Blackhawks discipline veteran defenseman TJ Brodie

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Joshua Deeds
November 2, 2024 (6:40 PM)

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The Chicago Blackhawks have made another lineup change, as Luke Richardson has removed T..J. Brodie from the bottom pairing.

Brodie will be a healthy scratch tonight, as regular call-up Isaak Phillips will slot into the 6th defense spot tonight.

Brodie's production and play haven't been what the Blackhawks have expected out of the veteran. As someone who's supposed to lead and mentor younger players, he's been a disappointment.

For example, his play led to Nolan Allan taking the lead on the 3rd pair, and attempting to win the puck battles against the Colorado Avalanche per Ben Pope of CST:

But he struggled mightily in puck battles, forcing his rookie partner, Nolan Allan, to do most of the work in terms of winning back possession. The Avalanche nearly tied the game early in the third period after Miles Wood got the best of Brodie in a battle, and they nearly tied it again with five minutes left when Brodie kept failing to get a handle on the puck.

«Moving the puck quickly out of your �D' zone is the way the game is played now,» Richardson said. «When you don't or it hops over your stick, everybody seems to get in a little bit of trouble. It happened a couple times to �Brods.'

Brodie has played 11 games for the Blackhawks this season, scored only 2 points(2 A), with a rating of -6, 4 PIMs, and 4 shots on goal.

Even worse the metrics on the ice reveal a terrible story for puck possession for the team at even strength, as Brodie has a CF% of 46.4.

Out of 186 defensemen leaguewide, Brodie's 43.0% scoring-chance ratio during five-on-five play ranks 149th, his 45.5% expected-goals ratio ranks 123rd and his 20.0% actual goals ratio - a fancy way of quantifying the fact the Hawks have been outscored 8-2 during his ice time - is tied for 181st.

Isaak Phillips was a regular call-up last season and is an up-and-coming prospect in the Blackhawks pipeline.

His NHL totals are 53 games played, 11 points( 1 G, 10 A) with a -37 rating, and 31 PIMs, and 51 shots on goal.