Goaltending has changed over the years from when Martin Brodeur played the game. He is known as one of the best goalies all-time and he was able to dominate and set records by playing most of the games each season.
Brodeur played 22 seasons in the NHL and in 12 of them, played 70 or more games. Nowadays, we don't see that with any team, especially not with a starter never playing both games of a back-to-back. While the NHL is seeing more and more 1A/1B tandems, the Nashville Predators are one of the teams that has continued to give a heavier workload to their starter and have a clear cut starter and backup.
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Brodeur said that "I think we baby our goalies" and that he is a part of it too. Since the year after Pekka Rinne retired, Juuse Saros has led the league in games played. Not only has he done so overall, but in each of the three seasons he has played the most games, only finishing tied by Connor Hellebuyck last season.
Saros is one of the last true starters in the NHL that resembles what goaltending used to look like. While he isn't reaching 70 games in a season, he played 67 in 2021-22, 64 in 2022-23, and 57 already this season with 10 games to go. I expect him to land somewhere between 64 and 67. Brodeur also makes note that teams are scared to have their starters injured, saying "These guys are playing 55 games. They should be playing 65-70 like we did."
The Hall of Fame goaltender thinks the goaltending position has gotten too volatile and crazy things can happen from year to year now. It was less so in the days when he played because the starter was putting in the work and being counted on. This is what is seen with Saros. In two of the past three seasons he received Hart Trophy votes and finished in the top-six in Vezina Trophy voting in all three seasons.
While it is a bit of a different season for Saros with his early season struggles, the team was adjusting to a new system and coach. He has settled in just fine and got more support from the team in front of him now. It isn't the only reason, but Saros' reps as the starter keep him as one of the top goaltenders in the league without the worry of splitting starts or having his job taken from him.
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