[bigrangy]

I don't think that Brodie has been struggling this season because of the side that he is playing on. I think most of the struggles can be put squarely on the system in which the d-men aren't used in transition at all. Transition is Brodie's biggest strength and before the 2nd (4th of the season) game against the Oilers, you would very rarely see him do any breakouts by himself, where last year (and recently this year), he has been doing it much more often. I actually don't mind Brodie on the left though, his zone entry preventions are unreal with his excellent stick. I do miss the unreal backhand passes though.

Of course, Wideman is a downgrade from Giordano as well, but I'm confident that the main reason is because of the coaching system that is restricting the d-men from getting involved in transition. On top of this, with no d-men in transition, there are less options for Johnny to pass to off of the rush, which results in a snowball effect of less offense for everyone.