Leafs’ Brodie, Flyers’ Couturier Among NHL’s Most Surprising Healthy Scratches This Season
The Toronto Maple Leafs made veteran defenseman TJ Brodie a healthy scratch in Wednesday’s game against the Washington Capitals. And on Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers scratched Sean Couturier for a second straight game. Toronto’s defense corps looked like they didn’t miss a beat as they beat the Capitals 7-3, and the Flyers won 4-3 on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs. There was some shock in Leafs Nation to have an experienced hand like Brodie sidelined by Buds coach Sheldon Keefe as was John Tortorella scratching Couturier and teammate Cam Atkinson. Still, the reality is we’ve seen many capable NHLers made healthy scratches this season,
including Evgeny Kuznetsov, Patrik Laine, Kent Johnson and Andrei Kuzmenko. Related: John Tortorella Doesn’t Care What You Think About Scratching The Flyers’ Captain Is this a trend? Well, at least in the short term, it sure feels that way. NHL coaches don’t have nearly as much leverage as they did in the heydays of iron-fisted bench bosses like Punch Imlach and Mike Keenan. If they aren’t getting the results they’re looking for, coaches likely see a healthy scratch as the last line of defense. There’s also a factor we’re seeing play out in leagues like the NBA – load management, where teams keep their key players on the sidelines in the hope of having them fresh and rested for important games. The NBA has been concerned about that development, but in the constant grind of an 82-game regular season, you can understand why
GMs and coaches go the route of sitting players out when they’re not 100 percent healthy, either mentally or physically. A physical athlete like an NHLer is always an injury risk, but when you’re a team like the Maple Leafs that has amassed a good deal of depth at key positions, it affords you the luxury of doing what Keefe did with Brodie Wednesday. Indeed, if you’ve been following the Leafs this year, you’ve noticed Brodie has had his share of struggles. The 33-year-old blueliner is, at this stage in his playing career, no longer a top-pairing guy. When he tries to do too much, it shows in the mental mistakes
he’s making on the regular. Keefe saw Brodie flailing in Toronto’s late-game meltdown loss to Carolina Saturday. With fans and media up in arms over Brodie’s clear slippage in performance, there was no more shielding Brodie from the consequences of his on-ice choices.
