Veteran goaltender and Hall of Fame lock Martin Brodeur isn’t very thrilled with the New jersey Devils, the team that drafted him 20th overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, but it’s not what you may think.
Nearly two years later, Brodeur is still sour that the Devils let Zach Parise sign with the Minnesota Wild.
“It affected our organization in a big way, losing him, and that’s what the fans care about,” Brodeur said. “Us, we know it’s part of the business. We had plenty of chances. We had two years to talk to him and try to figure out something. We waited and waited and it was too late.”
Parise, 29, was an offensive force for the Devils, scoring 30 or more goals five times with the team. During his last season with the Devils in 2011-12, Parise tallied 31 goals and added 38 assists and helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they eventually lost in six games to the Los Angeles Kings. Parise signed a 13-year, $98 million contract with his hometown team, the Minnesota Wild, just weeks later.
“When you know you have an athlete that is going to be a game-breaker, that is going to be one of the top players; rules are that free agency comes a lot younger than it used to,” Brodeur stated. “You have to make commitments. You look around the league, some of the young guys, like [Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven] Stamkos, they don’t wait, they get them done.”
Brodeur, who has 17 wins and a 2.55 goals against average this season with three shutouts, is slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. There was a lot of speculation that the Devils would trade Brodeur at the trade deadline, but he remained with the team he has spent his entire career with. He has stated that he wants to play next season and, “have the chance to win the Stanley Cup,” but hasn’t expressed whether he will re-sign with the Devils or move on to a contender during the offseason. He is a four time Vezina Trophy winner, three time Stanley Cup champion, and a two time Olympic gold medal winner.
