If the New Jersey Devils management is serious about being Stanley Cup contenders, they need to make sure they get the players they feel they need this offseason.
The 2024-25 New Jersey Devils started off their season looking like a contender. They played well in the first few months, banking points and while there were still flaws, the team looked like it could go deep into the playoffs. We all know the rest of the story though.
January rolled around and the overall play slipped.
Then the injuries to key players began to add up.
This all led to a team that just managed to make the playoffs, which resulted in them getting bounced by Carolina in five games.
Between the season taking a nosedive and the playoff exit however, there was an attempt to improve the Devils. But in the words of Tom Fitzgerald himself, the organization fell just short:
“It was difficult. But you know what? That happens. You win some, you lose some. And I just felt that my goal from the get-go was to add to this group in the player that I went after hard was that player with or without Jack. We were still trying to add that, and unfortunately, we just came in second.”
I had problems with that quote then (as did others) and I still do now. Maybe it does happen in the NHL, but having such a seemingly lax attitude about that when you allegedly want to win doesn’t send the right message. And as was pointed out in the above linked article, other contending teams found ways to get things done, yet Fitzgerald did not.
That cannot be a trend that continues this summer. If the Devils truly are to be a better team, they need more talent. That does mean some addition by subtraction (hopefully more subtraction is coming) but it also means getting the players that will improve the team. Fitzgerald has done it before with both signings and trades. But the “second place” attitude has to be a one time slip and nothing more. If Fitzgerald says something similar after or during free agency, it’s going to increase concerns for this upcoming season.
If the Devils swing and miss, that’s fine; Fitz just doesn’t have to broadcast it with a loser mentality. The way things are said can be just as important as the information being said itself, so even if one big name chooses another team, there’s a way to spin that so that the Devils don’t come off as second rate or that Fitz doesn’t seem like he’s trying. At the same time, the Devils are a team with a young core that should be able to attract players. Fitzgerald can’t continue to finish in second or third or worse if he intends to bring the Stanley Cup back to New Jersey. He has to be willing to part with the right assets, while at the same time he needs to be savvy and find ways to fleece some other GMs. We all know there are GMs out there making repeated bad moves; find an asset you want from some of those teams and make them think they’re getting a deal they can’t pass up!
As a writer for this site with zero connections around the NHL, I know that I don’t know every aspect of an NHL GM’s job. I’m sure there’s some parts of it that I oversimplified even in this article. At the same time however, it is a GM’s job to improve the team by getting done the moves they need to. It is not a GM’s job to keep being a runner up; that’s what gets GMs fired. The Devils are in a position where they need to take the next step this offseason. For that to happen Tom Fitzgerald needs to not repeat this past trade deadline, otherwise this summer might be the last one where he is the one trying to improve the squad.
What are your thoughts on Tom Fitzgerald needing some first place finishes this summer; do you think he pulls in a bigger name? Is it more of a trade route you see him taking? Do you think he has a plan that he can successfully execute? Are you worried he’s going to come up short again? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!