Quote:
Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames
I see what GG is trying to do, but Brodie was already a top-15 defenseman in the league. Is playing his natural side going to turn him into a top-5 defenseman? There's not much to gain and a lot to lose from this experiment.
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Okay, let's assume Brodie was already a top-15 defenseman in the league (I actually agree, in fact I argue he's already closer to top 5 than 15).
What is Brodie's biggest weakness? Getting point shot attempts through traffic and close to the net for tips, rebounds, or just plain goals. Brodie is an elite two-way defenseman right now, but this is a guy who could win a Norris Trophy or Conn Smythe if he could increase his shot generation.
2015-16 5v5 Individual Unblocked Shot Attempts per 60 minutes:
What we see, is that Brodie's shot totals were absolutely putrid. Now part of that is his amazing playmaking ability - he might be the Alex Tanguay of defensemen - but I believe part of it is simply due to how much time he spends on the right side of the ice in the offensive zone. It's not easy to get quick shots through by collecting the puck on your backhand. He would need to almost double his unblocked shot attempt generation to get to Duncan Keith levels. We should encourage this.
That said, playing him with Engelland is hardly the solution. He needs to play with a D that can get the puck across to him - Wideman would be my proposal, along with a Gio-Hamilton pair.