Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Brodeur on a Leave of Absence

With the return of Brian Elliott to the St. Louis goalie rotation a couple of weeks ago, the Blues goaltending situation needed some rectifying, since they had the free agent signing, Martin Brodeur, kicking around still. Over the last couple of weeks, Brodeur had found a couple of starts, but for the most part, played healthy scratch for the Blues and it looks like the NHL club is going to commit to the original duo from the beginning of the year, leaving Brodeur left to think about his options.

This appears to be exactly what is going on, as the Blues have granted Brodeur a week's leave of absence and the veteran goalie will go mull over how he'll approach the rest of the season and/or his career.  It would seem likely that the Blues shopped Brodeur after they decided to commit to Elliott and Jake Allen, but with no takers and the Wild opting to take on Devan Dubnyk from Arizona, there doesn't seem to be much left for the first ballot Hall of Famer-to be.

In seven appearances for the Blues, Brodeur went 3-3-0 with a shutout, picking up 8 points in his showcase to the rest of the league, just to see if he could play or not.  As much as his numbers may suggest he isn't completely washed up, it doesn't look like anyone was willing to take a longer-term shot at the keeper.

Someone who did take a risk on Brodeur was Dale C., who opted to take him over Ray Emery in Philadelphia at the Week Nine Waiver Draft and that may now have been a misjudgment on his part.  Currently, the difference between the two keepers after the draft is nothing, as they both have picked up 6 points since the start of Week Ten, but at least Emery still has a job.

It looks like Dale might be shopping for another goalie at the Week Eighteen Waiver Draft, unless a miracle happens.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

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