In what many considered to be not all that surprising, Martin Brodeur was named the Assistant GM of the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday. Brodeur has officially signed a three-year contract so he will not being coming back to New Jersey anytime soon. Martin Brodeur landed in St. Louis this season after the Blues offered him a contract to see if he could help their young goalies and the team in general. He ended up playing only 7 games for the Blues this season before being named a Senior Advisor to the GM.
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Martin Brodeur signing a three-year contract to be the Assistant GM of the Blues is intriguing for many reasons to me. First off, the amount of time he signed on for makes it seem as though he has a blueprint of some sort laid out for future career plans. Does he feel he’d be ready to step into the role of an NHL GM after three years of serving as an Assistant GM? Or perhaps he has plans to return to the Devils organization after what would be four years away from New Jersey?
Call me crazy, but I have a minor theory about Martin Brodeur’s planned absence from the organization. Given how shocking the Cory Schneider draft day trade was to the fans and especially Brodeur, I believe that Marty is still unhappy with Lou Lamoriello. Note: he has never actually made any public statements to support this claim and this is pure speculation. Though it isn’t that far-fetched to believe the winningest goaltender of all-time would get mad at his GM for bringing in his eventual replacement before he decided to retire. Brodeur’s play ultimately did him in and left Peter DeBoer no choice but to give the better goalie (at the time) more starts.
Now I’m a firm believer that there’s more to Martin Brodeur’s departure to St. Louis. I really think the Cory Schneider trade is still an open wound between Marty and Lou. If that were correct, then Marty must feel he needs more time to let that wound heal before he comes back. To say that Brodeur will never return to the New Jersey Devils organization would be completely absurd. Everyone in the NHL knows Marty will be back one day, but how soon will it be?
The following quote is from an interview Martin Brodeur had last week via northjersey.com.
"“Especially with the change (the Devils) made, I think it’s a great opportunity for me to take a step back and go somewhere – or stay somewhere – that I’ll be able to learn and do things I want to do and try to learn as much as possible and who knows what the future,” Brodeur said. “But, it’s less and less likely it’s going to happen in New Jersey for a few years, that’s for sure.”"
In this quote you get the typical this is a great opportunity line that every player, coach and GM says when they sign a contract. The one part of this quote that keeps grabbing my eye is the “stay somewhere” part. This tells me that Martin Brodeur is looking for someplace he knows he will be wanted and not just tossed aside. Is St. Louis that place right now? The answer is most obviously yes as the Devils have wasted no time moving on without him. Will the door be open in a few years for Marty to take on a bigger role with New Jersey, only time will tell.
Lou Lamoriello made one a great draft day trade in acquiring Schneider for only a 1st-round draft pick. It was an easy decision on paper, but I guarantee you it was tough given his relationship with Marty. However that’s what makes Lou one of the greatest General Managers in NHL history. He accepted the potential consequences of the trade, but knew it had to be done for the best of the organization. As is true in life, you can’t always make everyone happy. Lou made a lot of people happy with that trade, but it seems as though Martin Brodeur wasn’t one of them.