(Photo Credit: BBC Images)
The sunset is coming fantasy hockey fans and not just for Martin Brodeur. Brodeur rode a nice second half with a sub 2.00 GAA and a .920+ save percentage last year after New Jersey rid itself of what it deemed to be mental cancers in the locker room. However Brodeur at 39 is not the Brodeur at 29 or even 34. It is the time now in keeper leagues to think of a world without a Martin Brodeur.
Trending analysis seems to prove this as “expert leagues” have been littered with people trying to unload the goalie. Surely this is not the first or last franchise player this will happen to but it is interesting to see the value that reputation can entail.
Jeff Angus is one of the best fantasy writers i know, period. Below is the following trade in a fantasy league he is in.
“I’ve had a fairly busy offseason in my head-to-head keeper league. I shipped out Justin Williams for Steve Ott last month, and last weekend I pulled the trigger in a bigger trade, moving out Martin Brodeur, John-Michael Liles, and a draft pick in our dispersal draft in September for Loui Eriksson and a lower pick in the same draft.”
This is the cold reality now. Jeff and Tim both make great rationales for the trade to be made. One was in need of goaltending and Jeff clearly was trying to plug a small hole. The picks are kind of meaningless in a sense at least for now.
I have seen other leagues with proposals for Brodeur especially in keeper leagues. Let’s face it. The time that Brodeur is a first or early second round pick is now gone. What he will fetch now in keeper leagues is greatly diminished from what it would have been even a year ago. It really is the time to sell for most because long term #30 is not long for the NHL and every fantasy hockey GM knows it.
Some GM’s will try for the short term buy in hopes of being able to flip Brodeur later for an even bigger return. This is commonly known as a “building block trade” and happens when a GM makes a trade to eventually parlay it into a better term or terms. Most times this strategy does fail but when it succeds, it becomes very much worth the gamble.
From a personal standpoint, the market will dictate what happens to Brodeur as far as his fantasy value. The early indication seems to be sell now and it is a strong sell at that. However, a solid first half from the future Hall Of Famer could change things and that is what the minority is banking on. Take a look in training camp to see what kind of shape Martin Brodeur is in. If he can get in the form from the second half of last year then expect good things. If not, he may be injury prone again and who knows if he gets that form back.
Time to ask that fateful question. Would you buy or sell Martin Brodeur? That is something I never thought I would have to write but the truth is this. That time is here.
