When it comes to NHL records, you don't have to look far to find Martin Brodeur's name on a list. In the New Jersey Devils' history alone, he holds the record for career wins (and losses), shutouts, games played, goals-against average, and more. Most impressively, he holds the NHL records for career wins, shutouts and minutes played. It's safe to say he's one of the best to ever do it.
It's now been over 10 years since Brodeur's retirement, and no one has come close to touching many of these records. It might even be safe to say that a few of these records are unbreakable in today's day and age.
Most games played in a career is going to be Brodeur's record forever
After 22 years in the NHL, Brodeur played 1266 games and a total of 74,438 minutes. That type of longevity is almost unheard of in the NHL. Only four goalies in NHL history have hit over 1000 games played. The closest goaltender to Brodeur in games played and minutes is Marc-Andre Fleury, who played 21 seasons but only 1,501 games.
When it comes to active goalies, there are only four in the top 50 in games played. Sergei Bobrovsky is the closest to Brodeur with 806 games played. Even though he's only played 16 years, he's already 37 years old. It's unlikely that we'll see him compete for another six years. He'd need to play 460 games between now and retirement to match Brodeur's record. Bobrovsky hasn't played more than 60 games in a single season since 2018-19. It's unlikely that he'll get to 1000 before he retires.
Semyon Varlamov, who is ranked 49th on the list, is in a similar boat to Bobrovsky. The goaltender has played 621 games in 17 years in the NHL, but at 38 years old, is nearing the end of his career. Valamov also finds himself solidly in the backup role with the New York Islanders, so it's unlikely he'll see more than 20 games next season.
The youngest goaltender in the top 50 is Connor Hellebuyck, who, at 33 years old, has played 625 games. Still, it's unlikely that he'll beat Brodeur's career before he retires. The reason being that he, and likely many other younger goalies currently in the NHL, rarely see the number of seasons and number of games per season that Brodeur did. Last season, Vejmelka played the most games at 69. In Brodeur's career, he regularly had seasons where he played more than 70. It's simply more common that teams will split the workload for goalies more often now than they did in the past. For that reason alone, Brodeur's record will continue to stand.
Most career shutouts is probably also safe based on how the NHL is played
Another crazy record of Brodeur's is his career shutouts. He had 125 shutouts in his career. The closest goaltender on the record list to him is Terry Sawchuk, who had 103. Bobrovsky is once again the closest active goaltender on the list, with 53. He'd need 72 shutouts to reach Brodeur's milestone, and his career high is nine in a single season.
Similarly, Hellebuyck, who has 45, would need 80, meaning he'd need to average eight a season if he plays for another 10 years. It's possible, but the Winnipeg Jets would need to improve substantially, and Hellebuyck would need to play until he was 43, one year longer than Brodeur did. Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy would be in a similar boat.
Truly, the thing keeping this record alive most may just be the average goals scored in a season. Brodeur spent much of his career in the dead puck era, a time when fewer goals were scored than they are now. That, in addition to stellar goaltending and strong defenders, puts this record out of reach.
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