Martin Brodeur is all over the Devils record book when it comes to the franchise's goaltenders. He holds the records for most games played at 1259, most wins as a goaltender with 688, most shutouts with 124, and the best goals against average record at 2.24. His jersey hangs in the rafters at Prudential Center, and he is only one of five former Devils to be granted that privilege.
Brodeur has shifted from playing for the Devils to working for the organization as the Executive Vice President and Advisor of Hockey Operations. He shared what that position means, especially in the recent shifts throughout the organization this season.
"I'm just trying to [help] putting everything back together. There were a lot of changes in the organization, starting with the coach and then the GM, and so they approached me to kind of help them put it back together to a certain extent, and see what we have under the hood here," said Brodeur on his new role this year.
"[I'm trying] to help the Devils to get back to where we should be. It will be a bit of work but I think we're on the right direction."
Brodeur also discussed what he's seen in the organization when it comes to younger players and prospects in regards to their development.
"When you step back and take a look at your organization a lot of the players went from their junior team or college team or development team to the NHL. They never really had a chance to touch our development, part of the organization here. Now we're going to have that part of our organization to be really important moving forward. We're going to develop these guys to be better pros quicker."
"If you want to have a good organization everything needs to be earned. And I think these guys are putting in the work down [in Binghamton] and there'll be more going in there in the next few years," said Brodeur. "People maybe would love to see them in the NHL but there's a process, you can't skip the process."
Brodeur discussed his playing days and the expectation of winning that the organization and players held. He said that the organization needs to embrace that same mentality now.
"My team in the minors was good, my team in the NHL was good. We just kind of every day expected that. We have to get back to that expectation. That transition might take a year and a half, to two years before we can be in that conversation. Maybe a little quicker depending on the growth of certain players," said Brodeur. "We got a lot of good pieces in place, but it's just a matter of everyone growing together."
Although Brodeur won the Stanley Cup with the Devils, he became beloved in his home country after he helped Canada win two Olympic Gold Medals. Brodeur saw this popularity during a game in Toronto against the Maple Leafs after his first Gold.
"We won the gold medal and I think one of the first game back [in the NHL season] we win in Toronto, and I got one of the stars of the game and like the whole place went nuts, and I was like 'do they know that I play for the Devils here?'" Brodeur joked. "50 years, we didn't win a gold medal. And no one would think about Canada having a slide of 50 years without the gold medal. So it was a big deal up in Canada."
