After last off-season and this past trade deadline, concern arose that maybe the New Jersey Devils were moving in the wrong direction. After yesterday’s trade, maybe they’re back on track.
Just when you think New Jersey Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald has lost his touch, he goes out and does something to give you hope. After an okay 2024 off-season and a disappointing 2025 trade deadline, things seemed to be moving in the wrong direction for the Devils. I wrote previously about how the team couldn’t afford to over-correct away from their identity again and that maybe Fitzgerald shouldn’t be the one to fix the team. With yesterday’s trade however, maybe he still has some tricks up his sleeve.
Moving Erik Haula to Nashville may not be popular but it was a good trade. He was a good locker room guy, and he was one of the better Devils in the 2023 playoffs. Unfortunately, all sports are a “what have you done for me lately” business and Haula’s 2024-25 was miserable outside of his faceoff percentage. Not only does moving on from him give the Devils the the start of a path to reshape their Bottom Six, it also helps with the salary cap to do so. Fitzgerald did not have to retain on him and even got a fourth round pick alongside a long shot defense prospect.
If the team wasn’t afraid to make this move, then maybe this summer will bring the overhaul fans crave. Even with now just over $14 million in cap space according to Puckpedia, there’s quite a bit to get done. Factor in that a good chunk of that might go to Luke Hughes’ new contact, and there’s still moves to make to truly bolster the depth. The top option would, of course, be finding a taker for Ondrej Palat. As long as that move makes sense from a cost standpoint (meaning the Devils don’t have to part with a ton of assets to make it happen) the Devils would be adding to their overall success by subtracting a player who is slowing down and omg productive when stapled to top talents.
Jared wrote last week about the Devils potentially moving on from Dougie Hamilton as well. Unlike Haula and Palat, Hamilton I think still has some value to the Devils and if he were still on the roster I wouldn’t be upset. At the same time $9 million is a lot of cap for a guy who is no longer factoring into the team’s long-term plans. With Johnny Kovacevic set to miss the start of the season though, moving Hamilton might need to wait a bit. If the team does decide to move him, again it would show that willingness by Fitzgerald to what is necessary.
Realistically, that’s what all of this boils down to: making the moves that are needed for the betterment of the team. That also means not re-signing pretty much every Devils forward set to enter unrestricted free agency. Maybe Daniel Spring gets one more shot but Nate Bastian, Justin Dowling and (sadly because he seemed like a good locker room guy) Curtis Lazar shouldn’t be coming back. Each of the above moves in isolation has had varying levels of discussion here at AAtJ, but now we’re entering the time of year where the difficult decisions actually need to be made. The draft is just over a week away and free agency will follow shortly after. If the Devils intend to at least partly remodel their roster in free agency, moves will have to be made before the end of the month.
Maybe more moves are coming this week. Maybe a deal materializes at the draft. Perhaps something gets done between the draft and free agency if original plans fall through. The Haula trade brings hope that Tom Fitzgerald is willing to make the difficult decisions necessary to improve this roster this summer. This is supposed to be the window for this Devils core to be competing, not flaming out early in the playoffs or missing them entirely. If they can’t comfortably qualify and make some noise in 2025-26 then maybe there will be different changes (read: general manager changes) made next summer.
What are your thoughts on the Devils front office making the needed moves: will Haula be the only trade? Do you see Palat and/or Hamilton being dealt? Would not re-signing the UFA forwards be enough evidence for you that the club is moving in a different direction? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!