If I was asked to identify a sleeper prospect in the Flames organization, I'd probably choose T.J. Brodie. A fourth round pick in 2008, I knew next to nothing about Brodie before watching him in his first Flames rookie training camp (one that featured a rookie tounament between Oilers, Canucks and Flames kids).To tell the truth, I wasn't even really looking for him on the ice when camp began.

He managed to impress the hell out of me during that limited viewing. Highly mobile, Smart and poised with the puck, Brodie stood out almost every every shift of the exhibition games I saw. He instantly jumped to the head of the line of Flames prospects, at least in my estimation. He justified my admiration the very next season, scoring 12 goals and 50 points in just 63 games for the Saginaw Spirit, a 20 point improvement over his draft season.

That was 2008-09. This year, Brodie began the season as the Spirits #1 defender and scored at a better than point-per-game pace through the first 19 games (4 goals, 23 points). At that point he was acquired by Bryan Cameron's Barrie Colts and took on a more defensive role with his new club. That didn't stop him from posting career best totals in terms of assists (49), points (55) and plus/minus by the end of the year though (+33). For the second straight year, Brodie finished inside the top 10 in OHL scoring by defenders, this time finishing sixth.

For more qualitative information on Brodie, I once again called on Brock Otten to share some of his observations.

1.) Brodie has been amongst the OHL defensive scoring leaders the last couple of seasons. Why do you think he lasted until the fourth round in 2008?

Kent, the answer to this question probably lies with the reasoning any draft player falls to a certain degree. I'm not an NHL scout, so I'm really not sure of the answer. In his draft season, Saginaw had a really solid team that also included two other top quality draft prospects on the blueline; Adam Comrie and Nick Crawford. Brodie doesn't have ideal size for an NHL blueliner and he's come a long way defensively in his time in the league. Maybe there were concerns over the type of role he'd play at the next level? Could have been a lack of exposure too. His draft season was really his OHL rookie season. Maybe scouts hadn't gotten a good enough read on him?

Thanks again to Otten. His OHL Prospects blog is a must-read, especially at this time of year.

Although the Flames have a number of notable defensive prospects (Pelech, Erixon, Seabrook, Negrin), Brodie has some of the best overall junior stats amongst them and has a development line with a steady upwards slope. He'll no doubt make his professional debut in Abbotsford next year where we'll get a better read on whether his lack of size/bulk are legitimate concerns or not.