This is the life that Brodeur has chosen. After suiting up for seven games with the Blues to wrap up his playing career, he is in the second year of a three-year contract as an assistant to GM Doug Armstrong. His days are consumed by watching practice, scouting prospects and taking the occasional trip overseas to make sure the club isn’t missing out on untapped talent such as Chicago’s Artemi Panarin, who once played at the Four Nations Cup.

It’s the type of grunt work that might make others in hockey’s hierarchy flinch, but not Brodeur.

“There’s times like ‘seriously?’” he admitted. “Especially when it takes you 21 hours to get back from Finland, you’re like ‘Seriously, are you doing this?’ But that’s the work that I’m willing to put in to see if I’m going to enjoy this part of the job. Everybody has done it, all the GMs and scouts and player personnel, they’ve done that work. I feel that I can’t short-side myself on this. I’ve got to try to do as much as I can, and then after three years, I’ll re-evaluate and see if it’s something I like. So far it’s been really fun and it keeps me busy. I like to be on the run a little bit.”