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Lou Lamoriello is certain that Martin Brodeur, no matter what happens next season, is a Devil for life.

(Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

It is now 45 days into NHL free agency and Martin Brodeur is still twisting in the wind, waiting for a team to offer him a contract.

His friend and Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello expects his longtime goalie to wait until training camps begin, and then size up the market before deciding if he plans to play this year or retire. There are two factors that make it seem like the latter -- Brodeur hanging up his skates -- is getting more likely.

1. There are several big-name goalies still on the market. Brodeur joins experienced net minders Tomas Vokoun, Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Tim Thomas and Ilya Bryzgalov that are still unsigned, and while that doesn't mean Brodeur won't land somewhere, it speaks to the competition he faces for a job.

2. If a job opens, there's no telling if it's the right job. Brodeur wants to play for a contender, and that limits his options.

So it's time to wonder: What happens if Brodeur gets to a point where he realizes the right fit isn't there? Lamoriello has the answer. The longtime Devils GM said Brodeur has a job waiting for him with the Devils if he decides to stop playing.

"He knows that," Lamoriello said. "He knows he'll be a Devil for the rest of his life. What Marty has done and the type of personality he is, and what his experience is, it's a no brainer. He's a Devil."

But Lamoriello wonders: Does Brodeur want to work? He's been around enough great players to know that this is not always the case.

"You always have to find out if former players want to work," Lamoriello said. "They're used to playing, that's the bottom line. I know Marty doesn't want to coach. I don't know if Marty wants to work.

"It's the individual. You see some that have gone into it and have drifted away, and it wasn't that the organization did that, it was just what they wanted to put in to have the success. It's like great players sometimes don't make good coaches.

"It's not because they don't know. It's that they can't get down to the majority of players because they think they should know it already. It's the same thing with what you've accomplished. There's a price you pay. It's the individual. It's one they get into and feel, 'This is not for me. Golf is more for me. Parties are more for me.' That's more of the majority that the minority, by the way."

My theory? Brodeur is more the willing to work. I wrote months ago that the best possible scenario is that he'll stop playing and become an assistant general manager under Lamoriello. He can work under one of the best GMs in hockey for a few years and then the assess his options.

It might not be what Brodeur wants for next season. But it has to beat riding the bench for a bad team somewhere.