Michael Russo of the Star Tribune reported over the weekend that the Minnesota Wild has shown interest in trading for goaltenders Jaroslav Halak of the Buffalo Sabres and Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils.
Wait a second. Brodeur would leave the Devils – the team he’s spent his entire 21-year career with?
Brodeur has a full no-trade clause in his contract, but according to Devils beat reporter Tom Gulitti, the 41-year-old hasn’t closed the door on the possibility.
Of waiving his no trade, Martin Brodeur said this afternoon. "“It definitely depends on where it would be" and "I'm not there yet."
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) March 2, 2014
Brodeur has two children who play hockey and attend school at Shattuck St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minnesota. That, along with the chance to play with his former New Jersey teammate Zach Parise would “no doubt” welcome a trade to Minnesota, according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.
Brodeur says he doesn’t have to be the No. 1 goalie if he does end up relocating. The Wild’s No. 1 goalie at this point is 23-year-old Darcy Kuemper, who has been better than advertised, but goalie depth could be a major problem if Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding can’t stay healthy.
With that in mind, Russo says, the Wild have kicked the tires on a possible trade with the Sabres for Halak. Per his report, Sabres general manager Tim Murray proposed the idea of trading for Halak to Wild GM Chuck Fletcher.
Murray is now trying to trade Halak to the Wild. He’s 28, in the last year of his contract and was 24-9-4 with the Blues with a 2.23 goals-against average. But some inside the Wild worry he was a product of the Blues’ stingy system and there’s a reason St. Louis felt Miller, not Halak, was the final piece of a Stanley Cup puzzle.
But if the price is right, Fletcher could pull the trigger.
A few more names to keep an eye on in the rumor mills before Wedneday’s trading deadline are Carolina’s Cam Ward and Edmonton’s Illya Bryzgalov, who was reportedly recently offered to the Wild, according to the Edmonton Journal.
Stay tuned for what could be a very interesting few days.
