Over the course of his career, Martin Brodeur's look has not changed. For over twenty years, and 1,464 total games, he has been wearing the red, white and black, and at times the red, white and green, of the New Jersey Devils. On July 1, there is a good chance he will join another team.
Like Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken Jr. in baseball, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant in basketball, and Dan Marino in football, it will be very tough to think of Martin Brodeur wearing another sweater that is not a Team Canada or All Star uniform.
The fact is that New Jersey doesn't have a need for Brodeur now that Cory Schneider is between the pipes. They would be more than willing to welcome him back in a back-up role, but Brodeur wants to keep playing. Since there is no chance he plays more than 30 games if he stays with New Jersey might make him want to go elsewhere.
Two years ago Brodeur tested the market, albeit for a brief time, and even at the age of 40 at the time, he garnered a lot of interest from other clubs.Now he is 42, his save percentage has declined every season since the 2006-2007 season, and he has been battling injuries over the last few years. So which teams are going to come calling after noon?
The best way to try and figure out where Brodeur will land is to take a look at Stanley Cup contending teams that are thin with back-up goalies, or teams with a budding star that need a little mentoring.
If Brodeur wants to go to a contender, than don't be surprised to see the Penguins, Blackhawks, and potentially the Sharks trying to sign him.
Despite the valuable experience and leadership abilities Brodeur might bring to the Penguins' locker room, he might not want to play on a team that faces the Devils five times next season.
The best fits for Brodeur are in the Western Conference.
San Jose is a team that might be interested. But, in order for the Sharks to land Brodeur, they would need to figure out if they want Antti Niemi or Alex Stalock to lead the team moving forward. If they go with Niemi, there won't be a need for Brodeur to back him up and take away time from Stalock. However, if they decide to ride Stalock for the future, Brodeur as a backup might be worth the $3.5 to $4 million Brodeur will likely be asking for.
When he was testing the market in 2012, the Blackhawks were heavy players for Brodeur and they might be now even with Antti Raanta signed for another two seasons. With the Blackhawks' cap situation, signing Brodeur wouldn't make much sense.
Another potential suitor may be the Colorado Avalanche. With J.S. Giguere possibly retiring, that opens up the door for Brodeur to come in and help mentor Vezina Trophy finalist Semyon Varlamov. It would also be very interesting to see Brodeur on a team coached by Patrick Roy, a man that had a lot of his NHL records broken by Brodeur himself. With his desire to play on a competitive team, this move would make sense from a lot of angles.
The last, and probably most attractive, place Brodeur might run off to is Minnesota. The Wild's goaltending situation has been a headache with Nicklas Backstrom battling numerous injuries and Josh Harding suffering from multiple sclerosis. Rookie Darcy Kuemper stole the show for this team and played well for them. The 24-year-old played every game in the playoffs until suffering an injury in Game 7 against the Avalanche. Adding Brodeur would serve the same purpose for the Wild as it would for the Avalanche. It would bring a winning veteran presence to the locker room and provide Kuemper with a mentor to help improve his game.
All things considered, if Brodeur is going to play 30 games max and not be a starter regardless of where he goes, it would be best for him to return to New Jersey for his final year. Seeing Brodeur in Wild green or Avalanche purple would compare to seeing Bobby Orr and Mike Modano in a Blackhawks and Red Wings sweater respectively, it just wouldn't feel right. Still, the Devils cannot ask anything more from Brodeur and need to move on when he leaves.