Jonas Brodin Can Shutdown Anyone

Any article about Jonas Brodin has to mention how criminally underrated he is, similar to Jared Spurgeon. The only defenseman in the league who can not only keep up with and shut down Connor McDavid, Brodin can manage to do it while skating backward. If there was an all-star competition for skating backward, Brodin could easily win it.

Last Season

During the 2022-23 season, Brodin only played 60 games due to a lower-body injury. After a career-high 30 points during the 2021-22 season, Brodin’s injury kept his point total to 14 (3 goals and 11 assists) during last season. Brodin also remained an essential part of the second penalty kill, skating with the second unit.

Strengths

As mentioned above, he’s as fast skating backward as most players are skating forward. Being able to not only keep up but also stay focused on the opponent is crucial to his game. Brodin plays a calm game, never looking flustered. At the same time, he also manages to produce on the offensive end of things. More of a playmaker than a goal-scorer, Brodin’s points are always heavily weighted toward assists. He’s a two-way defenseman but isn’t willing to sacrifice defense in order to score goals. It’s not often that an opponent can frustrate McDavid, as seen in the video below.

What did Jonas do that made Connor McDavid this frustrated?

Find out on the next episode of 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬 with Jonas Brodin and @AnthonyLaPanta #mnwild pic.twitter.com/t7jdVI5liK
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) March 10, 2022

Weaknesses

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Next Season

For the first time in a while, Brodin won’t be playing alongside long-time defensive partner Matt Dumba, who signed a contract with the Arizona Coyotes for the 2023-24 season. There is plenty of hype about Brock Faber, who will most likely step into the second pairing with Brodin. While both Faber and Brodin are excellent defensemen, they are untested together. No one can be sure of the chemistry until they play together. But assuming Brodin and Faber work well together, it’s possible that Brodin could up his point total over 20 again this season.