Brodeur growing into role as Devils executive

NEWARK, N.J. -- Martin Brodeur brought his 8-year-old son, Max, to Prudential Center a few weeks ago to show him around his new -- and old -- work home as the New Jersey Devils executive vice president of business development.

Max was 4 and doesn't remember much from when Brodeur was finishing up his playing days with the Devils in 2013-2014. So touring the arena was an eye-opening experience.
"It's funny how he almost doesn't realize who I am," Brodeur said last week. "He walked through the building and he goes, 'Dad, your picture is everywhere here.' Then, we got out among the fans, they started yelling my name, and he kind of stopped and he was like, 'This is crazy, Dad.'"
Yes, Max, your dad is kind of a big deal here. There are reasons his No. 30 is retired and there's a statue of him outside the arena.
Brodeur played 21 seasons for the Devils, rewriting the NHL's goaltending record book while helping New Jersey win the Stanley Cup three times before finishing his career with seven games with the St. Louis Blues in 2014-15.
Brodeur then joined the Blues front office, including the past three seasons as an assistant general manager. Although the 46-year-old earned 688 of his NHL-record 691wins and 124 of his NHL-record 125 shutouts with the Devils, he felt awkward whenever he returned to Prudential Center while he was working for the Blues.
That awkwardness quickly disappeared after he was hired by the Devils on Aug. 29.
"Now it is home," Brodeur said. "I walk everywhere and it's kind of funny how everybody is like, 'Oh hey, Marty's here.'"
Brodeur rarely visited the offices at Prudential Center as a player other than to see then-Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello. Now he has his own office on the top floor.
On this day, he's sitting behind a busy desk that includes a desktop computer, two open laptops and a constantly buzzing smartphone. Atop the keyboard of one laptop is a printed draft of his speech for his Hockey Hall of Fame induction in Toronto on Nov. 12.
"I work on it once in a while during my free time," he said. "Trying to get it right."
Earlier, Brodeur met with Gabe Harris, senior vice president of strategy, who updated him on real estate developments in the area surrounding Prudential Center, and Mark Gheduzzi, executive vice president of facilities management and strategic projects, who oversees building operations.
Brodeur's job focuses primarily on developing business opportunities for the Devils and Prudential Center, but he spent much of his first two months getting familiar with all of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment's (named for Devils co-owners Josh Harris and Davis Blitzer) properties. That also includes the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the Delaware 87ers (NBA G League), Crystal Palace FC (English Premier League) the GRAMMY Museum Experience at Prudential Center, the Binghamton Devils (American Hockey League) and Team Dignitas (eSports).

Brodeur began by shadowing Devils and Prudential Center president Hugh Weber, including during New Jersey's NHL Global Series 2018 trip to Europe for an exhibition game against SC Bern in Bern, Switzerland on Oct. 1 and its regular-season opener against the Edmonton Oilers in Gothenburg, Sweden on Oct. 6.
"Hugh has been great to me," Brodeur said. "He's really honest and tells you that he doesn't know anything about hockey, but he knows I don't know much about business. He said, 'We'll work together to kind of understand better.' Right now, I'm in a learning mode more than anything."
Although Brodeur's return was fantastic publicity, Weber made it clear he's not back simply to shake hands, sign autographs and pose for photos. He sees potential in him as executive.
"I told Marty, 'This isn't something we're just going to come in and test it out and then if we don't think you're effective you're gone." You can't do that," Weber said. "You've got to be committed for a long time and he said, '100 percent.' So, we both took the view that this was a long-term commitment and that we would be on a journey together to see what it could develop into. And it's been great."
To those who wish Brodeur never left, this is where he belongs.
"It's certainly nice to see a legend and what he meant to the organization back here," said MSG Network analyst and former Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko, who played all 20 of his NHL seasons in New Jersey. "You always anticipated or thought that it might happen in whatever capacity. Having said that, I was probably a little surprised because I thought everything was going accordingly to what he expected in St. Louis.
"But, obviously, things change."
Brodeur said the job change was mostly about wanting to spend more time with his family. Between his responsibilities with the Blues and working with Hockey Canada's management for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark, he spent 55 days in Europe last season.
"I saw Max play hockey twice all year, and I was like, 'This is not good,'" Brodeur said. When Brodeur's contract with the Blues expired at the end of last season, general manager Doug Armstrong wanted to re-sign him. But Brodeur wanted to take a step back.
That was when he reached out to Weber. They had gotten to know each other through various events when Brodeur came back to New Jersey, including the retirement of his number in 2016. Weber suggested Brodeur join the Devils business operations, which would give him a more stable schedule with considerably less travel.
"There was a nice alignment around what we're good at and what he wanted to learn and what he offered in terms of experience, skills, and abilities and also who he is and how it might help us in our development growth of the brand, in the development of the team and the integration of who we are," Weber said. "So, it came together really quickly."
Weber said Devils GM Ray Shero was fully supportive of bringing Brodeur back. Although Brodeur is not part of hockey operations, he said he talks to Shero and assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald occasionally to keep tabs on the team.
With the Blues, Brodeur appeared to be on a path to becoming a GM or team president. He said the Buffalo Sabres asked to interview him for their vacant GM position before hiring Jason Botterill in 2017, but he declined because he didn't think he was ready.
He views this job with the Devils as an opportunity to become a more well-rounded executive.
"I think if you want to be a successful president or a manager of a team, you need to understand what the business is all about because you have to deal with the business side of the game to be able to do what you need to do," he said. "And this is a great kind of add-on to what I know already."

Lamoriello, now GM of the New York Islanders and still a good friend, believes Brodeur's future will be whatever he wants.
"If he does something, he'll put his heart and soul in it," Lamoriello said. "He did that in St. Louis. Doug [Armstrong] told me the job he did there, and I know the time he put in when he worked for Canada at the world championship. Marty's not going to cheat anybody. He's not going to cheat himself."
For now, Brodeur believes he's in the best spot for him. He spends three or four days each week in New Jersey, where he rents an apartment, and travels most weekends back to St. Louis where his wife, Genevieve, and Max still live to not disrupt Max's schooling.
When he's in St. Louis, he can watch Max, a goalie and a forward, play ice hockey. When he's in New Jersey, he can watch 16-year-old daughter, Anabelle, who lives with his first wife, play field hockey.
"For me, it was a natural thing going back to New Jersey," Brodeur said. "I'm happy to be back here. ... I just want to learn as much as possible. When I'm going to be ready to do something or they're ready to offer me something more, I'm going to have to make a decision if I want to do this or not.
"But right now, I have no plans of moving up. This is what I want to do."