On Wednesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs took on the Washington Capitals in the second half of a back-to-back after losing to the Philadelphia Flyers on the road. Earlier in the day, however, Sheldon Keefe announced that the team would be without veteran defenceman T.J. Brodie who would sit for the first time as a healthy scratch in his Maple Leafs’ tenure — aside from late season rest games.
The Maple Leafs ultimately won the game 7-3 and went into a two-day break. On Saturday, it was announced again that Brodie would be out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, for the second game in a row. Once again, the team came out victories over a high-powered Edmonton Oilers offence with a 6-3 victory.
As for Brodie, it’s not that he’s not valuable to the team anymore, but that Keefe wants him to “clear his head” following a rough season to this point — one in which he hasn’t been at his best defensively as one of the team’s strongest defensive options.
Now, with the Maple Leafs having gone 2-0 without him in the lineup, what’s the next move for Keefe and his team when it comes to the veteran defenceman?
Maple Leafs’ Brodie Needs Mental Reset
For Keefe, the goal is to get Brodie to find some kind of mental reset. Prior to the season, his father, Jay, passed away from cancer and to some extent Brodie’s play on the ice has seemed less focused than he’s been in recent seasons.
That’s not to say that his focus is solely on his loss, rather that there could be more external situations affecting him. After all, hockey is just a game and life outside the rink takes precedent for these players, of course.
As for how the coach sees the situations, it’s nothing more than a reset for the 34-year-old.
“I’d just like him to clear his head,” said Keefe in regards to Brodie. “He’s had a tough go here right from the beginning of training camp all the way through. And because of the demands that we put on him, he hasn’t really had time to breathe and regroup and find himself.”
This season, Brodie has averaged the second highest time on ice for the Maple Leafs at 21:51 through 66 games — behind only Morgan Rielly’s 23:51 through 63 games. While he’s relied upon as one of the team’s top penalty killers, the Maple Leafs have ranked in the bottom ten teams on the PK this season, sitting 24th in the league.
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On top of that, Brodie’s expected-goals percentage has dropped to 43 percent which is a career low for the oft defensive defenceman and it’s been visible in his overall play this season.
Maple Leafs Have Options Outside of Brodie
At the deadline, the Maple Leafs landed Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson to bolster the depth on their back end heading into the playoffs. Even with Mark Giordano on long-term injury reserve with a head injury, the Maple Leafs have options on the blue line which helps in allowing Brodie to sit and refresh for a few games.
Now, that said, it’s tough to tinker with a lineup that has had success. The Maple Leafs haven’t look horrible defensively in the two games without Brodie giving up six goals against two teams with some legitimate goal scorers on them.
But where does that leave Brodie, who has been noticeably one of their weaker defensemen this season? Better yet, when Giordano returns on March 25, that’ll create an even bigger log-jam in the lineup and it’ll be tough to pull Simon Benoit and Joel Edmundson out considering what they can bring to the table and what this team needs going up against a tough opponent come playoff time.
“We’ve added some defensive depth here, obviously, at the trade deadline and we’re in a different position as a team than we were,” said Keefe on Brodie’s spot in the lineup. “So we’ve got a chance, as I said, to really help Brodes and the mental part of it. I think we’re hoping it re-energizes him. And with that comes an extra step. And when you have an extra step, all of a sudden, the puck moves quicker. All of a sudden, you’re defending less. And all these sorts of things start to fall into place. But the most important thing right now for us is just to give him the time that he needs to get back to being himself because he’s a very, very important piece of our team. When he’s at his best, he’s as good a defender as we have and as reliable and consistent a guy as we have. So we’ve got to get him to that.”
Brodie is also set to hit free agency this summer which adds another layer of questions as it pertains to his future with the Maple Leafs. That said, for now, he’s a member of the blue and white and given what Keefe thinks of him, you’d have to assume he’ll find his way back into the lineup sooner than later.
Still, with Benoit, Edmundson and Lyubushkin understanding that they could all be bubble players come playoff time, there will be a lot of heart in their play over the next week or so in the hopes that they stay in the lineup. At what cost to Brodie, we’ll have to wait and see.