Martin Brodeur 691 career wins (franchise record)
Twenty-three seasons of a man who simply would not let the puck go in.
Martin Brodeur's 691 career NHL wins stand as the all-time record for a goaltender in the history of the sport and remain the single most dominant statistical benchmark in New Jersey Devils franchise history. Spanning 23 seasons from 1991–92 to 2014–15, the vast majority of those victories were earned between the pipes for the Devils, where Brodeur anchored three Stanley Cup championships and redefined what a starting goaltender could accomplish over two decades.
This record is not merely a number on a leaderboard; it is the statistical backbone of the Devils' identity as a franchise. Every other record in the building—points, goals, assists, playoff runs—was built on the foundation of a goaltender who simply refused to lose. In the unofficial fan canon, '691' is shorthand for an era in which the Devils were the standard against which all other teams were measured.
Quick Facts
- Player
- Martin Brodeur
- Position
- Goaltender
- Primary franchise
- New Jersey Devils (1991–92 to 2013–14)
- Stanley cups (with njd)
- 3 (1995, 2000, 2003)
- Hockey hall of fame
- Inducted 2018
Lore & Background
When the Devils selected Brodeur 117th overall in the 1990 NHL Draft, the organization was looking for a long-term solution to a goaltending problem that had plagued them since the franchise's 1982 arrival in New Jersey. What they got was something no one in the league had seen in that era: a goaltender who could carry a team through a full 80-plus-game schedule, year after year, decade after decade, while posting elite numbers. His 691 wins were not the product of a single heroic stretch but of an almost absurd consistency—seasons of 30, 40, 44 wins stacked on top of one another while his body absorbed the physical toll of 1,200-plus games.
The record lives in the context of the Devils' three Cup runs. In 1995, a young Brodeur helped a young team punch its ticket to the championship. In 2000, he was the calm center of a roster that included Scott Stevens and Patrik Eliáš. In 2003, he captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Finals MVP, cementing the argument that the most important player on a winning team is the one who stops the shots. Between those triumphs, he collected three Vezina Trophies and, in 2004, became the fifth goaltender in NHL history to win the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player.
When Brodeur eventually hung up his pads after the 2014–15 season with the St. Louis Blues, the 691-win mark sat alone at the top of the NHL's all-time goaltending list. It has not been seriously threatened since. For Devils fans, the number is less a statistic and more a monument—a two-decade argument that one man, standing in the crease in red, black, and white, could outlast an entire era.
Reader's Guide
TEAM TROPHIES Stanley Cup – 1993, 2000, 2003 – Martin Brodeur (starting goalie) – Three championships in three different eras of the Devils' roster; the 2003 run earned him the Conn Smythe as Finals MVP, the only goalie to win that award while also holding the career wins record.
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS Vezina Trophy – 1995, 1996, 2002 – Martin Brodeur – Three times named the NHL's top goaltender; the 1995–96 back-to-backs anchored the Devils' first Cup window. Hart Memorial Trophy – 2004 – Martin Brodeur – First goaltender in NHL history to win the league's MVP award, a testament to a season in which his 45-win campaign carried the Devils to the Cup. Conn Smythe Trophy – 2003 – Martin Brodeur – Stanley Cup Finals MVP; the performance that made the 2003 run the franchise's most complete.
FRANCHISE / LEAGUE RECORDS 691 career NHL wins – Martin Brodeur – All-time NHL record for a goaltender; the vast majority earned in the Devils' red, black, and white. No player in the sport has come close. 111 career shutouts – Martin Brodeur – All-time NHL record for a goaltender; a mark that underscores the quiet, unglamorous side of a career defined by preventing goals rather than scoring them. Career games played (Devils) – Martin Brodeur – 952 regular-season and playoff games for New Jersey, the most by any player in franchise history.
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