Martin Brodeur is, without a doubt, a first-ballot hall-of-famer. If not the best ever, then he’s one of the top three goaltenders in NHL history (alongside Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek). He holds just about every win record there is for goalies. When Brodeur retires, his jersey is certain to hang in the rafters of the Prudential Center in Newark. However, his time as New Jersey’s heroic starter has ended. Last season, he struggled for starts, with Cory Schneider very obviously the better goalie. Brodeur was reportedly frustrated with his demotion, and now wants to leave the Devils.
Enter the Toronto Maple Leafs. In recent days, team president Brendan Shanahan has made it known that they’ve expressed an interest in signing Brodeur. It’s heavily rumoured that James Reimer is on his way out of Toronto, after (similarly) losing his starting job to Jonathan Bernier. Reimer is a restricted free agent, of course, meaning the ball is in the Leafs’ court. If they do choose to trade him, Leafs management will likely want to bring in another goalie to back up Bernier. Drew MacIntyre, who spent a few games as the Leafs’ backup at the end of the season when Bernier was injured, is also a free agent. It remains to be seen whether the Leafs are confident in his ability to be an NHL backup goalie.
So, if the Leafs do find themselves in the market for a backup, Brodeur is an option. However, unfortunately GM Dave Nonis and co. would be quite foolish to sign him. Brodeur, despite being an absolute legend, is now 42 years old. He’s very well past his prime. In fact, anyone who thinks he’s still the caliber of an NHL goaltender is deluded. Last season he posted a save percentage of .901. 45th in the NHL. That’s horrendous. In fact, Brodeur hasn’t had a semi-decent save percentage for five years. His goals-against-average wasn’t so hot, either. 2.51 was good for 26th in the league. So, Brodeur hasn’t just regressed into an average goalie. He’s actually become quite a poor one. Really, the only reason he got any starts in New Jersey is that he’s Martin Brodeur.
Martin Brodeur doesn’t let things like numbers faze him, though. Despite being a below-average goaltender, Martin Brodeur clearly thinks he’s capable of being a starter. Actually, it’s rumoured that that’s the reason he’s leaving New Jersey. Obviously, he won’t find a starting job anywhere. There are very few starting jobs available, and there are much better options on the market for teams – even James Reimer is among them. So, he’ll be forced to either settle into a backup role, or retire. It’s hard to believe he wants to do the latter, for some reason.
Even if he does decide to be a backup, Brodeur certainly won’t be looking for backup-level money. Due to the fact that he is (was?) one of the best goalies to play the game, he will be a prestige signing. It’s likely Brodeur will be asking for $3-4 million or more. That’s something that just wouldn’t make sense for the Leafs. There are better backup goaltenders out there who can be acquired via trade or free agency, who cost much less. Ideally, they’d hang on to Reimer. However, that may not happen. Reimer will probably want to move on, and it’s hard to blame him, considering how he was treated by the Leafs last year (just one season removed from dragging them to their first playoff appearance in nine years). Another good option would actually be to re-sign MacIntyre, since it’s widely believed he’s ready for the NHL, after being very solid for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
So, let this be a plea to both Martin Brodeur and the Toronto Maple Leafs. By prolonging his career too far, Brodeur is putting an ugly footnote on the epic saga of his time in the NHL. Seeing him in any jersey other than that of the New Jersey Devils would just be weird, just like seeing Mike Modano suit up for Detroit. The time has come for Brodeur to hang up the skates. He, and the Leafs, must realize that there’s no way he can be even an average NHL goaltender again. Please, Martin. Retire.
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