2025 Rangers Report Card: Jonny Brodzinski

This post is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Report Cards, grading the performance of each member of the 2024-25 New York Rangers. To view more report cards in this series, go here.

Well, someone had to do it, so it might as well be me...

Expectations

Not many! Brodzinski came into the 2023-24 season having played 101 NHL games and 297 AHL games for three organizations (Kings, Sharks, and Rangers) since being drafted in the 5th round of the 2013 dDraft by the Los Angeles Kings. Injuries to Filip Chytil and Blake Wheeler, coupled with complete and utter ineffectiveness from Nick Bonino and Tyler Pitlick, thrust Brodzinski into a greater role that saw him set career-highs in NHL games played (57) and points (19). Not only were his 19 points a career-high, but they eclipsed the total number of points he had amassed throughout his previous 101 NHL games (17). 

All of which is to say, Jonny Brodzinski had a very good (for him) season in 2023-24, and people were happy about it and happy for him. But I don’t think it really changed anyone’s expectations of him. I think we all expected that he was going to fill pretty much the same role he filled the year before: part-time, bottom six player who spends a lot of time in Hartford serving as a veteran mentor for younger players. 

Performance

Season Total: 51 GP, 12 G (career-high), 7 A

The numbers for Brodzinski were good, but they don’t tell the whole story.

This Rangers season was defined by having a bunch of top-of-the-roster players spend large chunks of the season playing like they didn’t care. Jonny Brodzinski was the antithesis of that. The 31-year-old AHL tweener showed up every night playing his butt off, proving that it doesn’t take talent to work hard. While veteran “leaders” like Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Jacob Trouba, and Artemi Panarin were sulking, Brodzinski was leading. He served as an inspiration and mentor to young players who came up during the season like Brett Berard and Brennan Othmann, even making sure that when the team played in his home state of Minnesota the young players on the roster were treated to a home-cooked meal. 

On the ice, Brodzinski played with pace and effort and, sure, sometimes he looked like a squirrel who had downed four espressos and a couple of grams of cocaine. But that energy was a welcome respite from watching a guy like Mika stop skating in the middle of a shift. Brodzinski also shot the puck a lot (73 times) and would benefit from a bloated shooting percentage of 16.4 percent (his career average is 8 percent). Now, when I say “bloated” I don’t mean that as an insult, but Artemi Panarin only shot 15 percent, Connor McDavid shot 13 percent.Iit’s safe to say there was some luck involved with Brodzinski’s results. That’s fine though, luck is part of life and good for him to keep shooting the puck as much as possible and riding that good luck.

In terms of his deployment, Brodzinski is a natural center and best suited for a 4th line role, so of course Laviolette used him at wing a bunch and moved him up and down the lineup. Instead of benching guys who deserved to be benched for lack of effort or ethic, he would often draw into the lineup ahead of younger players like Jusso Parssinen, Brett Berard, Brennan Othmann, and Arthur Kaliyev, that the front office would probably have liked the opportunity to evaluate. In an effort to drive me completely bat-crap crazy, Laviolette even inserted him as the right wing on the first line a couple of times. Jonny B also got shifts on special teams, playing on PP2 and the PK. He didn’t really stand out on either unit, but that’s fine, I’m pretty sure most people didn’t even realize the Rangers had a second power play unit. 

Grades

Author Grade: A
Banter Consensus: B+

Final Evaluation

Whenever I see Brodzinski I’m reminded of this scene from Rudy:

There are lots of players with more talent, more size, more skill, but he’s a player who coaches and fans gravitate towards because he plays an honest game: a player who works hard every shift, is always willing to do the dirty work, and who knows his role and is comfortable with it. He’s an underdog, to be sure, but has carved out a niche for himself as an actual NHL player and not a guy who will be yo-yo'ed between leagues. I absolutely loathe the way the Rangers use Brodzinski, but that’s not the same as saying that I don't respect him or that there’s no place on the roster for Brodzinski. I’m not going to hold the abject stupidity of a since-fired coach against the player who just did what he was told and, in the process, exceeded the mild expectations set for him. I wish everyone worked as hard as he does.

If it were me (and again, it’s not) I would look to deal Sam Carrick, save a few bucks, and let Brodzinski be the presumptive leader for the 4C spot heading into camp. If a player like Parssinen can unseat him, phenomenal; if not, that’s OK too. My concern—less now than a month ago—is that the Rangers will try to have Brodzinski higher up in the lineup than 4C which would bring me back to what I said about Brodzinski and the Rangers back in March (and, for the record, I still stand behind everything I wrote there). 

Look, if Artemi Panarin had the kind of season Jonny Brodzinski had, it would suck. But for a 31-year-old AHL journeyman, this was an objectively great season, so be happy for him.

For what it's worth, Jonny's older brother, Michael, played briefly for the Wolf Pack a couple of years ago. His younger brothers (Easton and Bryce) had strong seasons in the ECHL and it won't shock me at all if the Rangers sign one or both. Jonny's entering the final season of a two-year deal and, barring an extension, will join Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Alex Ovechkin, Cale Makar, Artemi Panarin, Kyle Connor, and Kirill Kaprizov as part of a loaded 2026 Free Agent Class.