Blues Sign Martin Brodeur

steve laidlaw

2014-12-02

MartinBrodeur

Fantasy Impact: The St. Louis Blues have signed goaltender Martin Brodeur to an incentive laden one-year deal.

The Blues get: A veteran goaltender to help bridge the gap while Brian Elliott is out. The Blues will presumably return to their usual 60-40 rotation in goal with Jake Allen claiming the larger portion of the starts.

Fantasy Players Impacted: This signing hints that Elliott's injury is fairly serious and that he may not be back for a while. Perhaps not until the New Year.

Allen will remain the interim #1 goalie but he has made every start since Elliott went down. That will change with Brodeur around. If you read Blues coach Ken Hitchcock's quotes, he has every intent of giving Brodeur serious playing time:

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said if Brodeur is signed, he will play on the upcoming road trip.

“That’s very realistic,” Hitchcock said. “If he’s here, he’s going to play. We’ll figure out what game it is and games they are. But if he’s here, he’s going to play. He’s not going to back up.

There is plenty of room for interpretation there but the take away seems to be that Brodeur will get a chance to play regardless of how Allen does. That doesn't mean that he is being handed the starting job out of the gate though.

Brodeur is in line to get some wins but in leagues that count a broader number of stats like goals-against average and save percentage, he'll be less valuable.

Brodeur is also just a Band-Aid solution. His contract is for just $700,000 meaning it wouldn't hurt the Blues to waive him at any point. Brodeur's deal does have some real incentives attached though so if he makes it to February or March the Blues would have to pony up more cash. If anything that gives the Blues incentive to cut him ASAP. That means you are unlikely to see Allen get demoted once Elliott returns and Elliott's job isn't at risk once he gets healthy.

The player hurt most here is probably Jordan Binnington who will be sent back to the AHL. He was always a long shot to gain fantasy relevance this season but when Elliott went down he found himself one injury or slump away from a chance. Brodeur's arrival puts him back to third in line.

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

Martin Brodeur

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

Jordan Binnington

Jake Allen

Brian Elliott (because it suggests his injury is fairly serious)