After Sundays embarrassing loss during the 2014 Coors Light Stadium Series at Yankees Stadium to the New York Rangers, in which Martin Brodeur was pulled after just two periods after letting in 6 goals on only 17 shots, Devils fans and media alike voiced out on how Cory Schneider should be the number one goaltender full time for the rest of the season in order for the team to have the best chance to win and make the playoffs. The Devils who are in the heart of the postseason race in the Metropolitan division, need to finish the last fourth of the season strong if they want to make the playoffs in a very crowded Metropolitan Division. Hockey has always been a sport where the best teams are built from the net out. That the said, New Jersey - a team that desperately needs to get hot, needs to have a hot goaltender.
Cory Schneider is playing great. Period. He has kept the devils in every game he played in this season and is currently riding a streak in which he has allowed two goals or less in his last eleven starts. It's not a secret of the Devils scoring woes, and with limited goal support, a goalie becomes even more important to hold the weight of the whole team. Unfortunately for the living legend, Martin Brodeur's role has significantly diminished. His goals against average in woeful, and to be honest, he hasn't look like the same goalie ever since the passing of his father Dennis Brodeur at the beginning of the season.
All that said, one of the biggest questions being thrown around Northern New Jersey and virtually the entire NHL is should New Jersey trade Brodeur to another team and hand over the full time goal-tending job to Cory Schneider?
As much as it hurts to say, I say yes.
For starters, Cory Schneider has probably had the most overlooked statistics in the NHL due to his record. He poses a 10-10-7 record currently, but holds a GAA (Goals Against Average) at 1.87 which is second in the NHL only behind Josh Harding of the Minnesota Wild. That 10-10-7 record would be much more impressive if the Devils didn't have such a hard problem scoring goals or finding a way to win a shootout. Cory has also posted a .926 save percentage, all very impressive of Schneider's first season in New Jersey. On the other hand, Martin Brodeur has posted a 13-11-4 record, with a 2.52 GAA, and .899 save percentage so far this season. He is way below his career average in those category's, which is expected for a 41 year old goaltender. Just off stats alone it is not hard to see that Cory Schneider gives the Devils the best chance to win night in and night out right now. Also throw in the fact that Schneider is just hitting his prime at 27 years old, and 14 years younger than Brodeur, it is not hard to see who should be getting more time in net.
Schneider deserves to be the number one goalie for the Devils, and sadly enough Brodeur knows that, but he still feels like he has enough left in the tank to play more. Brodeur has made it public of how much he wants to play, he knows the situation that is going on in New Jersey, and from his comments towards Rich Chere of the Newark Star ledger, he is not counting out being traded.
"It's within the teams rights to try and make themselves better. The fact is I have the luxury to decide what I want to do. I hope if he [Lamoriello] is able to help the team. he"ll ask, regardless of what it is. It's definitley something that is possible"-Martin Brodeur on the possibility of being traded
Brodeur seems to be wanting more playing time without formally asking for it. This puts the Devils and General Manager Lou Lamoriello in a interesting situation. Cory Schneider will probably be the guy who gets the starts down the stretch, now that does not mean he will be starting every night. Any Devils fan would want Brodeur backing up Schneider over younger goalies developing in the minors like Keith Kinkaid or Scott Wedgewood, who are even doing good in the minors.
The Devils have a very strong core of young players defensemen with Adam Larsson, Eric Gelinas, Jon Merril, Steve Santini, and Damon Severson. They all could be very good defensemen at the NHL level, so the blue line in the long run is not a problem. The goaltender slot should be filled by Cory Schneider for a very long time, pending the expiration of his contract next season, so developing a future number 1 goalie hopefully isn't a problem for New Jersey.
Now the forwards in the far system on the other hand is very thin. The only players the Devils have forward wise with NHL potential is Reid Boucher and Stefan Matteau. Neither are sure locked impact NHL players, but the potential is there for both. Outside of those two, New Jersey doesn't have much for the long run with forwards. The Devils need to stockpile on forwards for future drafts, and draft them well. The Devils also do not have a first or fourth round pick for the upcoming draft, so unless of acquiring picks from other teams, this could be a very quiet draft for the Devils. With the situation the Devils are in with the current roster of much older players, Lou Lamoriello has to have a eye on the future for team. Could trading Martin Brodeur land a draft pick in return for the Devils that they can definitely use? Sure. My projections have Martin Brodeur being swapped for a guaranteed third round pick, or possibly a second round pick if Uncle Lou can work his magic.
The next question is who would possible destination for Brodeur.
The Tampa Bay Lighting are looking to make a good playoff run, goalie Ben Bishop has had his share of injuries this season, and back up Anders Lindback has played very poor when Bishop has been sidelined, and the Lightning would love to have his experience apart of their team for the playoffs. Would Brodeur waive his no trade clause to take a much similar situation compared to his current in New Jersey? Doubt it, but possible if New Jersey could get a nice draft pick or prospect in return, would he do it for the Devils? That I think he would.
Or maybe teams like Columbus, Chicago and Colorado? All would make sense for these teams points of view to have a good backup, but no sense for Brodeur who wants to play more.
Is this whole Brodeur trade possibly being overblown? Maybe, but it is something that I think could happen. It's obvious that Brodeur cares about the Devils. After all he drafted his own son into the organization and has had a long standing positive relationship with Lou Lamoriello ever since his debut with New Jersey. Such a trade that will benefit both parties make it much more realistic. Lou can send Marty to a playoff contender wile New Jersey could get a draft pick or prospect that they could use, and hand over the full-time reign to Cory Schneider. The Devils could still have a good chance at the playoffs with Schneider. I find this all very doubtful, but we have seen stranger things happened, and it is something that I think will be explored.
Who knows what will happen.
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