Goaltender Martin Brodeur will join the St. Louis Blues for practice on a tryout basis, the team said Wednesday.
General manager Doug Armstrong announced Brodeur will begin practicing with the Blues on Friday. Earlier Wednesday, St. Louis said goaltender Brian Elliott is out week-to-week with a leg injury but will not need surgery after leaving the game Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators.
The Blues will use Jake Allen as their starter and on Wednesday recalled Jordan Binnington from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.
"I think we looked at our schedule and we're playing four games a week," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock told NHL.com. "We have a young guy in the American Hockey League [Binnington] who's just getting his career started. We've got a young guy in the East Coast Hockey League [Niklas Lundstrom with the Alaska Aces] who's just getting his career started, and we've got a young guy in the NHL [Allen] who's getting his career started. In fairness to all three goalies, they need to have some support. Marty offers, depending on how he looks, he offers organizational support. I have a background with him, so we know each other."
Brodeur and Hitchcock represented Canada at three Winter Olympics and at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Brodeur has been working out on his own.
"It's an opportunity for him to practice and be around an NHL team and it's an opportunity for us to take a look at him," Hitchcock said. "In fairness to Jake, it gives him some stable support behind him if it works out with Marty."
Brodeur is the NHL's all-time leader in wins, shutouts, losses and games played. He has 688 victories and won the Stanley Cup three times with the New Jersey Devils. He played for New Jersey for parts of 22 seasons before the Devils opted not to sign him when his contract was up after last season and he became an unrestricted free agent.
Allen and Elliott were splitting time for the Blues, who are tied with the Nashville Predators atop the Central Division. Allen is 6-2-1 with a .920 save percentage; Elliott is 8-4-1 with a .931 save percentage.
Brodeur has a .901 save percentage in back-to-back seasons, and appeared in 39 games in 2013-14, ceding playing time to Cory Schneider.