Martin Brodeur and His Salary Still Looms Over the New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils were looking to upgrade their goaltending position last summer but were hesitant to trade for and sign a goaltender to a long-term extension with a high salary cap hit. That is not how they do business. Just look at how the history with Hall of Famer Goaltender Martin Brodeur.

During his tenure as the Devils goaltender, Brodeur never made more than $8 million. He made that on a five-year contract that paid him $40 million from 2001 to 2005. Brodeur stayed within the salary hierarchy that former general manager Lou Lamoriello set up, and that current President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald is following.

Before the New Jersey Devils traded for Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames this off-season, last offseason heading into the 2023-24 season, there was a lot of talk of the team adding a goalie. The Devils were trying to address that position, whether it was Juuse Saros or Connor Hellebuyck. However, the big question was what the Devils would pay these players.

There is a reason the New Jersey Devils did not trade for Connor Hellebuyck: the cost of acquiring the player and the amount they would have to sign him to an extension. That was a big unknown for Fitzgerald.

Did Tom Fitzgerald want to pay Hellebuyck over $8 million on a seven- or eight-year extension? From the sounds of it, Fitzgerald did not want to do that. It would take something for the Devils to pay a goalie more than what Martin Brodeur got in his time with the franchise.

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That is why it does not make it possible for the Devils to pursue Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman—even the Devils are trying to bridge the gap from Brodeur to the next franchise guy. It comes down to money. Swayman is looking for $8.5 million on an eight-year extension. Like other positional players, he wants to be paid based on potential.

The Devils are not willing to do that. Plus, most in the NHL knew Swayman would stay, or a trade or offer sheet would have been made already. New Jersey needed to fill the goalie position right away.

Thus, the Devils found their guy in Jacob Markstrom. As Full Press Hockey has documented, Markstrom has been the guy the Devils have wanted. He is the difference maker the Devils need. Like Barry Trotz did in Nashville, keeping Saros, Fitzgerald went with the proven entity in Markstrom.

He also got the Calgary Flames to retain 31.25 percent of Markstrom’s $6 million salary. New Jersey is paying Markstrom $4.125 million. That aligns with what Martin Brodeur made for many years with this club. This allowed the Devils to build a better team this offseason. Fitzgerald revamped the defense with Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon. He brought in Tomas Tatar, Stefan Noesen, and Paul Cotter upfront. Then he signed Mercer to that three-year extension at $4 million a season.

Say Fitzgerald paid Hellebuyck or went after Swayman, do you think the Devils have a competitive team like this? No. Sure, the goaltending would have been supreme, but the team in front of that goalie has to be good, too, for the team to be successful.

Martin Brodeur was an elite goaltender for the Devils. He played in the back of an elite defence, but when that elite defence was gone, he was still that elite goalie. But the parts on the defense was not as good. That would have been the case if the Devils went even bigger game hunting on a goalie.

The Devils are in win-now mode. Having Markstrom paired with Jake Allen is suitable for this organization. There is a reason why, according to sources close to Full Press Hockey, the Devils were not trading for or in conversations with the Nashville Predators over Yaroslav Askarov. They did not want to pay for potential.

While Tom Fitzgerald understands the new school of thought regarding player pay, he is still in favor of getting the most out of his cap space. Thus, he would pay a goaltender less than his market value. Therefore, having two guys under Martin Brodeur’s maximum salary made the most sense in getting out of his team.