Kyle Dubas Has Opportunity to Reunite With Former Player After Contract Buyout

The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that they have bought out the remainder of defenseman TJ Brodie's contract, making the 35-year-old an unrestricted free agent.

Brodie appeared in 54 games with the Hawks last season, putting up 2 goals and 10 points in the process alongside a rating of -18 and 18 penalty minutes.

Brodie had just one year left on his deal and will carry a cap hit of 3.2 million dollars this upcoming season for Chicago, and a cap hit of just 258k the following year.

Of course, Brodie is better known for his time with the Flames, but also his time in Toronto, where he became one of Kyle Dubas's most relied upon defensemen.

Brodie appeared in 274 regular-season games across four seasons during his time in Toronto, putting up 8 goals and 82 points, a plus 70 rating, and 100 penalty minutes.

He averaged 21 and a half minutes of ice time per game with the Leafs too, showing just how much Dubas and Sheldon Keefe trusted him.

Dubas was already going to be under a microscope this summer as he tries to quickly fix his Penguins club, and now there will be even more attention heading his way as many will speculate about his ties to Brodie.

Could Dubas be envisioning a reunion with the 35-year-old?

Furthermore, Brodie is not the only one of Dubas's former players available on the market.

There has been more speculation surrounding the Penguins as Detroit Red Wings defenseman Justin Holl is also on the verge of being bought out. Holl of course, was another one of Dubas's former players.

With all of that being said, neither Holl nor Brodie would make a significant impact on a Penguins team that finished fourth to last in the Eastern Conference last year.

While they could bring a nice boost of nostalgia to the team's GM, the NHL is a business and Dubas needs to treat it as such if he's going to get his team back into the playoffs.