Through his 21 seasons in the National Hockey League, legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur has never donned a jersey that didn't have the New Jersey Devils logo on it, but with his career winding down and the Devils in the lower half of the standings in the Eastern Conference early on in the season, could a trade of Brodeur be imminent, and does the goalie want to close out his career on a playoff-bound team?
Brodeur, a future Hall of Famer, wants to lead the Devils back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs as he's done so many times in his career, but he told the Newark-Star Ledger that if the Devils aren't a playoff contender as the season winds down, he would mull waiving his no-trade clause if the Devils wanted to make a deal.
"I hope it will never happen, but if there is a situation that could be really fun for me and really good for the Devils, why not? It's not like I'm going to play 25 more years here," Brodeur told the Star-Ledger Tuesday.
The Devils finished in last place in the Atlantic Division last season and missed the playoffs just a year after making it to the Stanley Cup Finals, and find themselves in seventh place in the newly formed Metropolitan Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 3-7-4 record and 10 points. Despite their early struggles, there is plenty of season left and Brodeur hopes he won't have to be moved.
"I'm not looking for that. I want to get back into the playoffs with this team and try to do something with this team. I would say 99 percent I'd say no right now," Brodeur said, according to the Star-Ledger. "But for a little bit of time? Nobody is going to remember it, really. It wouldn't be that big of a deal."
Brodeur then confirmed to ESPN that he wasn't looking to leave the team that drafted him with the 20th overall pick in the 1990 NHL draft.
"I want to be in the playoffs with the Devils and nobody else," Brodeur told ESPN. "But if it doesn't happen, maybe I would look at an opportunity I guess. But that's something for later in the season, if at all."
Brodeur said that any movement to another team would have to come from general manager Lou Lamoriello, and that he wouldn't be the one to request a trade.
"It would have to come from Lou, not from me, I would never ask Lou that," Brodeur said per ESPN. "He would have to ask me. I would do whatever Lou thought was right."
Brodeur has won three Stanley Cups for the Devils in his career and amassed four Vezina Trophy awards while making nine All-Star Game appearances.
Brodeur is 2-3-2 this season through seven games and has a .888 save percentage with a 2.68 goals-against average as he's split time with Cory Schneider, who is 1-4-2 through seven appearances with a .907 save percentage and a 2.27 GAA.
In his career, Brodeur has played in 1,227 games while posting a 671-383-150 record with a .913 save percentage and a 2.23 GAA over his tremendous career in New Jersey, but it remains to be seen if he'll close out his career in a Devils uniform.
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