The New Jersey Devils are a team that went from bad to putrid in just two weeks. The Devils lost their leader Zach Parise for three months after surgery on a torn meniscus. The Devils starting goaltender Martin Brodeur has gotten off to a lackluster start to the season going 3-8-1 and is now bothered by an elbow injury. Brodeur certainly isn’t to blame for all of the Devils misfortunes this year; however, fantasy wise he isn’t producing the numbers an owner would expect from a goaltender of his caliber.
Beginning last year and perhaps the year prior you could sense he was on the serious decline. I can’t recall a year where he looked so uncomfortable in net; it was becoming the norm to see him look behind him after simple saves. Fast forward to this year and things aren’t getting any better for the future hall of famer. For starters, take a look at the team assembled in front of him. A fantasy goalies success is often dictated by the performance of the whole team, take a look at Jimmy Howard. Howard is not the best goalie in the world but he will pick up W’s. Sorry, but aging Jason Arnott as the leading scorer on your team isn’t going to help Brodeur out at all (nice of you to show up Mr. Kovalchuk). Moreover, Brodeur has been sidelined the last two games due to his injury, throw in the fact he is 38 years old and you get a smokescreen affect. Owners are still grasping onto him and believe he will turn it around; after all, he is Martin Brodeur. This is where many owners are going wrong; they are blinded by the name. I will eat my words at the end of the year if Brodeur turns it around and produces solid numbers.
For fantasy owners with him as your starter I would start to look elsewhere. There are several viable options out there that can still get the job done, probably sitting on your bench. Better yet, try and package him in a trade when he comes back from injury. The best case scenario is that Brodeur will come back from injury and pick up a couple wins; perfect trade bait. Don’t be fooled if he does do decent in his return, it’s a long season; I believe this is the year we finally see the fall of Martin Brodeur.
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