Leafs Roster Preview – Troy Bodie

Rolling along with our roster preview, up next we have Troy Bodie. 

Many of us probably didn’t know much about Bodie prior to his signing with the Leafs last summer, and the assumption was that his high penalty-minute totals and relationship to Tim Leiweke (father-in-law) meant he was another facepuncher who was simply going to rake in some MLSE dough, and then we’d never hear much else about him. 

It didn’t take long for Bodie to prove us wrong and present himself as a serviceable fourth liner. And while he’ll still drop the gloves from time to time, he’s clearly not a typical enforcer like the team has employed for the past number of years. Bodie can play hockey.

Bodie managed to make 47 appearances for the Leafs last season. In hindsight, this is a bit of a surprise, since he didn’t suit up for one NHL game in the lockout year prior to that. Maybe that says something about the talent level in the Leafs’ forward group, but I think it also speaks to Bodie’s ability to bring some physicality and speed to the bottom line, without getting into too much trouble. 

If you look at Bodie’s work in the AHL during the 2012-13 season, he racked up 118 penalty minutes in just 52 games played. This past year he only went to the bin for 26 minutes in his 47 games with the Leafs, and just 9 minutes in 17 Marlies appearances. He doesn’t need to fight to be effective (no one does), and it seems like that clicked last year. As a result, good things happened for him. 

If the fancy stats are your thing, Bodie had a Fenwick Percentage of 46.56% at 5-on-5, which, for players playing 40 games or more, was second on the team to Liles. Does this mean he should be getting more ice-time or put in heavier situations? Probably not, but it shows that he’s a good option for the fourth line and can turn the puck in the right direction much better than guys like McLaren and Orr. 

Production-wise, Bodie chipped in 10 points with the Leafs last season. Nothing serious, but to put it in perspective, Clarkson had 11, and McLaren and Orr combined for zero.

With the additions the Leafs have made this summer, it’s tough to find a spot for Bodie in the lineup right now, and that’s a good thing for the team overall. I think he’ll get in there when injuries pop up, and along with Frattin, should be the go-to in that regard. The Leafs are hopefully finished with dressing pure fighters. 

Bodie will probably have a similar season to this past one, and see some fill-in duty in the bottom six, though I don’t know if he’ll see as many games this time around. Again, this is injury-dependent, so we’ll see. 

None, really. 

Unless…

Even then, not much value there. Let’s face it, you’re not going to draft Bodie in any league. Troy Bodie isn’t even going to draft Troy Bodie in his fantasy league.

Let’s watch Bodie score a couple goals and punch Patrick Kaleta while we groove to some sweet dad rock.