After one season on the languishing Chicago Blackhawks, defenseman TJ Brodie is expected to be bought out, making him an unrestricted free agent available to the New Jersey Devils.
Finding a reliable veteran defenseman will be an important piece of business for the Devils this offseason, as GM Tom Fitzgerald previously said it was "a real question" as to whether Brian Dumoulin would return to New Jersey.
The same Brian Dumoulin who cost the Devils a second-round pick and prospect Herman Traff in a trade with retained salary, even though the Devils had $13 million in cap space with Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler sitting on LTIR.
So, with Brodie hitting the open market next week, it's a great opportunity for Fitzgerald to make up for his gross miscalculation in some way.
The 35-year-old Brodie played 54 games for the Blackhawks last season, scoring two goals, eight assists, and 10 points to pair with a -18 rating. Before that, though, the longtime Calgary blueliner played for Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe for the latter's entire tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In four years with the Maple Leafs, Brodie, who can play on the left and the right, scored eight goals, 74 assists, and 82 points in 274 games while adding a goal, six assists, and seven points in 26 postseason contests.
TJ Brodie is an interesting depth option for the New Jersey Devils
Like Dumoulin, Brodie is not a defenseman whose calling card is offense. Rather, it's defense by way of playing a ton of heavy minutes and racking up time on the penalty kill. And, even then, it should be noted that Brodie has scored 30 or more points in a season six times in his NHL career.
At 35 years old, the Chatham, Ontario, native is not getting any younger, and getting bought out by the Blackhawks is arguably as low as it gets in the NHL these days. So why should the Devils want him?
It's simple, actually. At a time where players like Jake Allen, Luke Hughes, and, potentially, Cody Glass need to be re-signed in addition to other roster needs, the Devils cannot commit a large sum of money to a seventh or eighth defenseman.
It's fully plausible that the 6-foot-2 Brodie, who has blocked 1,433 shots in his career and more than 100 in a season seven times, is simply out of gas. Or, he was bedeviled by a structureless, rudderless Blackhawks team that played him just 15:43 a night on average compared to the 21:28 average under Keefe in Toronto.
The Devils could do worse than to sign Brodie to a professional tryout offer ahead of the season to determine if Keefe can squeeze anything more out of one of his partners in crime from Toronto.
If not, no harm, no foul. Simon Nemec will step in for the injured Johnathan Kovacevic as planned, and a player like Colton White or Seamus Casey will have the opportunity to start the season in the NHL with the Devils.
If they can help it, though, the Devils should let Casey develop and play meaningful AHL minutes while a veteran like Brodie handles mop-up duties in the NHL if and when needed.