TJ Brodie suddenly very important on Calgary’s blueline

A trade involving TJ Brodie seemed a formality when the Flames kicked off their offseason. But, almost four full months into Calgary’s summer, Brodie remains a member of the team and the likelihood of dealing him seems much less as August begins. In fact, with training camp just over a month away, Brodie’s role feels a whole lot more important now than it did when things wrapped up in April.

The right side

With Michael Stone’s buyout made official late last week, the Flames are left with just two natural right shot defenders with NHL experience: Travis Hamonic and Rasmus Andersson. Even though he actually shoots left, we’ll lump Brodie into the right side conversation, too; as we know, he’s…