SAN JOSE — The San Jose chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association announced today that Laurent Brossoit, a goalie with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, has been selected as its 2025-26 nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
The Masterton Trophy is awarded each season under the trusteeship of the PHWA to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
Brossoit, 33, persevered through two knee surgeries, missing the entire 2024-25 season, and the mental anguish of not knowing if he would play in another game before he made his first professional start in nearly 18 months in December.
Brossoit then started his first NHL game in almost two years last month when the Sharks faced the Ottawa Senators.
“After two knee surgeries and we still had no answers,” Brossoit said recently, “there was a big part of me that thought my career was done.”
In August 2024, after signing a two-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, Brossoit underwent surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee and hoped to return in roughly six weeks. But the knee had trouble returning to full strength.
Doctors, with Brossoit’s help, discovered what was wrong last summer.
After examining his right hip, doctors found that a cam lesion on the head of Brossoit’s femur was causing the problem. Brossoit suspected this could be the issue after he had previously had problems with his left hip, which had caused back pain.
After surgery to address the issue, Brossoit’s health improved, and he played his first professional game on Dec. 5 with Rockford of the AHL.
While Brossoit started to doubt whether he would be able to play again, “there was another side to me that thought it just didn’t feel like it was that serious, and it was confusing, to have something that was thought of as so minor keep me out that long. Then, obviously, got some fresh eyes (on the knee) in the summer, and we found out that the hip was causing the knee problem.
“Got it fixed up, and now I’m starting to feel good again,” he said. “It just gives you a whole new appreciation for not just the game and the NHL, but just to be able to make money doing it.”
FILE – Winnipeg Jets goaltender Laurent Brossoit (39) reacts against the New Jersey Devils during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)
Acquired by San Jose from the Blackhawks in January, Brossoit was recalled from the AHL on March 13 and started his first NHL game in 695 days on March 15.
In 24 games with the Calder Cup playoff-bound Barracuda this season, Brossoit has a record of 15-8-1 with a .909 save percentage. Over 11 seasons, Brossoit has a 64-47-13 record in 141 career NHL games with a .910 save percentage.
The Masterton Trophy winner is selected from a poll of the 32 chapters of the PHWA at the end of the regular season, and a $2,500 grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minn., in the name of the winner.
The PHWA first presented the Masterton Trophy in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player with the Minnesota North Stars, who exhibited, to a high degree, the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Masterton died on Jan. 15, 1968, following an injury suffered in a game.
The three finalists for the Masterton Trophy will be announced at a later date.
Former Shark Tony Granato received the award in 1997. Previous Sharks finalists for the award have been Patrick Marleau in 2020-2021, Joe Thornton in 2018-19, and Jed Ortmeyer in 2009-10.