This is the most damning chart of Brouwer's seasons last year:
Essentially every single player that played with Brouwer had better possession stats when they were playing without him. He dragged everyone he played with down. His own personal possession stats were disastrous. It was basically putting an AHL player out there that couldn't hold their head above water and paying him $4.5 million.
On the upside, it'd be tough to replicate a season this disastrous. He's almost certainly due for some type of rebound in his stats. Problem is that he's now on the wrong side of his career and whatever rebound he does have will be moderated. I'd say that the odds of the Flames buying him out before the end of his contract are 50/50.
Good read on his season here:
https://flamesnation.ca/2017/05/24/f...-troy-brouwer/