Veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur may have played his last game in a New Jersey Devils uniform as he may leave the only team he's ever known through free agency due to decreased playing time after New Jersey acquired Corey Schneider coming into the 2013-14 campaign.
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Brodeur, 41, is a future Hall of Famer after setting all-time NHL records for goaltending throughout his Devils career, however, when reflecting on this season and looking toward next season, he said that decreased playing time was a frustrating and challenging part of this season. It may lead to him departing for another team through free agency on July 1.
"Not playing as much, that's an obvious one," Brodeur told ESPN when asked about the most challenging aspects of this season. "It was difficult. And again, the position the coaching staff was in with having two goalies as No. 1s, it just doesn't work. It didn't work in Vancouver. It didn't work here too good. We didn't make the playoffs. I think it's important when you have one good goalie you have to give him the bulk of the work. [Schneider] will get that from now on."
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Brodeur doesn't appear to be headed toward retirement, so there is a possibility that he will wear a different team's uniform next season after playing in just 39 games this year and going 19-14-6 with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.
"I think a ballpark amount of games I'll be able to play," Brodeur said of the biggest factor in identifying a good new home per ESPN. "That's the bottom line. I don't want to prepare myself, like I did this summer, and get ready for a great season and sit on the bench. If I'm ready for 30 games next year in an organization and the Devils can't give me that, that will probably be something that makes my decision easier or harder."
Brodeur hasn't entirely ruled out returning to New Jersey, however it remains to be seen if the Devils make them an offer as they did two years ago when he tested free agency. With Schneider in tow, the team may not reach out the NHL's all-time winningest goaltender. Brodeur said he doesn't want to retire at this point in his life.
"My mind is good, my kids are enjoying watching me play, and I'm having a lot of fun doing it. If the body holds up I might as well, because when I say it's over, it's going to be over," Brodeur said via ESPN. "We'll see when that day will come. Could be sooner or later, you never know."
Brodeur hasn't ruled out being a backup goalie, though that seemed to irk him this season in New Jersey.
"If I sign somewhere as a backup, it won't be for a team that barely makes the playoffs," Brodeur said, according to ESPN. "It will be a team that contends for the Stanley Cup."
Brodeur knows plenty about winning Stanley Cups as he's hoisted three of them in New Jersey. There is no mystery about his past as a great netminder, but the future for the veteran is shrouded in mystery.
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