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900-Game NHL Veteran Bought Out by the Chicago Blackhawks

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jun 21, 2025 12:19 PM ET

TJ Brodie has been a fantastic NHL player throughout his career, but now, the veteran has officially been bought out by the Chicago Blackhawks as he will now look for a new role in the NHL at the age of 35.

The Chicago Blackhawks have some of the most promising young names in the entire NHL, and as a result, the belief is that the future is incredibly bright in Chicago led by star forward Connor Bedard.

This off-season could be crucial to the future of the organization, and on Saturday they got it started, as Elliotte Friedman officially announced that the team have placed veteran TJ Brodie on waivers.

The 35-year old joined the team last season, playing in 54 games while tallying 2 goals and 10 points, but with the emergence of Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov and Kevin Korchinski among others, his role on the blue line became redundant.

The 2025/26 campaign was set to be the final one on Brodie's current deal, and although the cap hit is relatively small at $3.75 million, this is a move to allow the Blackhawks young defensemen the opportunity to find bigger roles with the team.

In his career, Brodie has played in 962 gams with Calgary, Toronto and Chicago, tallying 58 goals and 358 points during that span, and while he's been fairly productive in that time, it's clear that at the NHL level, the Ontario native is past his prime.

Still, he's now on waivers and could potentailly be picked up by a team needing a veteran presence on their blue line, but with Chicago looking to get younger, the move to buyout Brodie was certainly the way for them to go.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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