TJ Brodie might have played his last game for the Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs face a do-or-die playoff game tonight when they take on the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their first-round matchup.

It’s an all-too-familiar spot for the Toronto core, who will need to win three games against the Bruins in order to advance to the second round of the playoffs for a second year in a row.

But one person who looks like they might have already played their last game for the team is defenceman TJ Brodie. Brodie sat the first three Toronto playoff games before coming in for Game 4 on Saturday night in favour of Timothy Liljegren.

And though Brodie had played in 78 regular season contests for the Leafs this season, he seems to be on the outs of Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe’s playoff rotation. With Brodie set to be a free agent this summer, it’s not exactly promising for his chances of sticking around if he’s out of the mix come postseason time.

“I had talked to [Brodie] even while the regular season was going on that it’s important for him to stay ready and that it was looking like he was going to be on the outside, but he’s got lots of experience, and we wanted to have a look going into the playoffs and one that we’ve liked but it’s important for him to stay ready, not just him but Timmins/Giordano just the same,” Keefe said following practice on Friday prior to Game 4, as per The Hockey News’ Nick Barden.

Having signed a four-year deal with Toronto prior to the 2020-21 season, Brodie put up 21:43 of ice time during the regular season, but he was limited to just 17:10 on Saturday night.

The analytics weren’t much better than the eye test, with Brodie sticking out like a sore thumb on the Leafs’ Game Score chart.

#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Toronto Maple Leafs on 2024-04-27:#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/EJvohekJ9e

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) April 28, 2024

For Brodie himself, reality seems to be setting in for the 33-year-old.

“It is what it is,” he said last Friday of the situation he finds himself in, “I try to stay ready and that’s all you can do.”

Puck drop for tonight’s contest is set for 7 pm ET.

Leafs 2024 first-round playoff schedule

• Game 5: Tuesday, April 30, Toronto at Boston, 7 pm
• Game 6: Thursday, May 2, Boston at Toronto, TBD*
• Game 7: Saturday, May 4, Toronto at Boston, TBD*

*if necessary