Brodeur Out 3-4 months

Martin Brodeur's injury was not so minor after all and will require surgery costing him 3-4 months of the 2009 NHL season.

This has huge fantasy implications. Those who invested an early pick in Brodeur are now faced with a major goaltending complications and an immediate trip to the waiver wire. Weekes will be the ultimate beneficiary. It will be interesting to see if the Devils were great defensively because of Brodeur, or if Weekes is capable of putting up big numbers behind the Devils defensive wall.

This comes as a huge shock as Brodeur has been one of the most durable fantasy players for the last 10 years and has not started less than 65 games since the mid 90s. His assault on the record book will have to be put on hold, and one wonders with his advanced age and all the miles on his body how long he can remain a major fantasy force.

Brodeurs greatness has been his consistency, in Fantasy circles he has been a virtual guarantee since his rookie year. 65+ starts per year, 37+ wins per season, +.910 Save Percentage and a low 2.00 Goals Against Average. His absence will be shocking to say the least, but cracks have begun to form in his super human durability in the last couple of playoffs, he has swooned in the playoffs after being overworked during the regular season. A small sign, but a definite red flag for future owners. (click chart to the left)

There are waiver wire options, but nobody close to the stature of Brodeur. My first instinct is to grab Weekes and hope for the best, as for those of you who have no faith in Kevin Weekes, I offer you Scott Clemmensen. This injury has really messed with both of their vacation times.

I can list you off a bunch of non fantasy starters who need injury or a major collapse to play. Guys like Ty Conklin (31% owned), Manny Fernandez (20% owned), Josh Harding (20%), Jaroslav Halak (12%).

But in a situation like this you need to get a little bit creative. So keep an eye on Dwayne Roloson, he is good trade bait because the Oilers are carrying three goaltenders because they do not want to lose Jeff-Drouin Deslauriers. Add the fact that Roloson will come off the cap after this season and he is a cheap alternative for the Devils to pursue. The same scenario exists for Khabibulin in Chicago, the Hawks did not give Huet big $$ to be a backup and Khabibulin is also off the cap after this season. With Brodeur going on the long term injury list the cap will not be a Devil problem.

If you want to target a backup who could steal a starting position, then I would look to one of Fredrik Norrena or Antero Niittymaki. A real darkhorse to look into for a second half impact would be Ondrej Pavelec.

All this said, as of today the best option remains Kevin Weekes. If he can slide in and excel in a strong defensive system then all the other points are moot. Anyways, with an unwinnable situation, those are your best options in my eyes.

One more thing about the impact of this injury. It offers the question of wether or not the Devils are forced to loosen the reigns on the trap. If so, does it increase the value of Parise, Elias, Gionta etc.

There are definitely going to be some interesting fantasy implications