TJ Brodie's time in Chicago has come to an end.

TJ Brodie has reached the end of the road as far as his time with the Chicago Blackhawks is concerned.

The news will likely come as a relief to Blackhawks fans that have watched Brodie struggle since he joined the Blackhawks as a free agent on the first day of free agency last summer, with Brodie signing a 2 year deal with an average annual value and salary cap hit of $3.75 million per season.

Unfortunately the manner of Brodie's departure won't be received as good news with the Blackhawks forced to use one of their buyouts on the veteran defenseman on Saturday. This suggests to me that there was no market at all for Brodie, with the Blackhawks no doubt exploring potential trades before going down this path.

Another bad sign for Brodie here is the fact that the Blackhawks are saving relatively little on this deal, with a cap penalty of $3.23 million for this upcoming National Hockey League season and an additional cap penalty of $258,333 during the 2026-26 NHL season.

You can hardly blame the Blackhawks for pulling the plug however given just how poorly the Brodie experiment went for them in Chicago. Brodie recorded 2 goals and 8 assists for 10 points last season but also boasted a plus minus rating of -18 over his 54 games with the Blackhawks.

That being said buying him out rather than letting him finish out the final season of his deal, even if they buried him in the American Hockey League, speaks to just how badly the Blackhawks wanted to move on from this situation.

A questionable contract to be sure given that Brodie didn't even last a full year before being bought out by the same general manager who signed the deal, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson.