Fitzgerald Talks Trades, State of Team, More | FEATURE 

Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald and Devils managing Partner David Blitzer met with the media Tuesday evening following the announced contract extension for Fitzgerald. The two also addressed some other topics regarding the team.

Current State of Affairs

The Devils sit in the third Wild Card spot, just on the outside of a playoff hunt, with 51 points (prior to Tuesday’s game slate). They trail both Detroit and Tampa Bay for one of the two Wild Card positions. Both Detroit and Tampa have 53 points, but both have played more games than the Devils’ 45: Tampa (47), Detroit (46).

“I think we all know how incredibly talented this team is. I don’t think there’s a debate about that,” Blitzer said. “Am I happy with where we are in the standings? No, I’m not happy with where we are in the standings. But the reality is, it’s a very long season. We have 35, 36 games to go.

“I have a lot of confidence that we’re going to see a strong end to this season. But, no, I’m certainly not happy with where we sit today.”

Blitzer also noted that next week is the team’s bye week and All-Star break, a chance for some of the club’s injured players to possibly return.

The Devils’ injuries have certainly been a factor in their positioning in the standings. The team is currently without Jack Hughes (upper-body), Dougie Hamilton (torn pec), Jonas Seigenthaler (broken foot), Brendan Smith (sprained knee), Ondrej Palat (lower-body) and Tomas Nosek (foot).

For comparison, when the Devils set a franchise record with 52 wins and 112 points during the 2022-23 season, Nico Hischier, Hughes, Hamilton and Jesper Bratt combined to miss only five games all year.

“It’s hard for me to really evaluate when there’s a number of quality bodies missed that we count on every single day,” Fitzgerald said. “Look at last year’s success and man-games lost we had. It wasn’t many. Having Jack, Dougie, Nico, Bratt in the lineup all last year, that’s not the reality this year. That’s not an excuse. We still do have talent.”

Fitzgerald has been very hands-on with the coaching staff, attending meetings every morning and is in constant communication and evaluation with his hockey operations staff.

“To me, it’s all about how we play. How we can create success playing differently without the talent,” Fitzgerald said. “We can’t be the same team with Jack Hughes in the lineup as we are without. We have to manufacture goals a certain way.”

Trade Winds

Fitzgerald has looked at the injury situation as an opportunity for some players, pointing to 19-year-old rookie defenseman Simon Nemec in particular.

“Maybe (Nemec) shouldn’t be playing 22 minutes, but he is and he looks good,” Fitzgerald said of the second-overall pick in 2022. “We’re very fortunate to have a player like that. With injuries comes opportunity. The next-man up mentality is to take advantage of that opportunity.”

With that said, Fitzgerald isn’t hesitant to make a trade if he believed it would help his team.

“I’m always looking to improve the team,” he said. “There are areas I’d like to improve, whether it’s depth defensemen, whether it’s looking in the goaltending market.

“I can’t force teams to trade people to me. My phone is constantly working and calling teams. That’s what we do this time of year to gauge each other’s thoughts and interests, what they’re thinking, what we’re thinking, and if there’s a match in there somewhere. That’s part of the process of being a general manager. It’s always staying connected to the other teams and what they’re trying to do and where we are at that point.”

Goaltending Situation

Fitzgerald noted that he’d like to see more from his goaltenders. Though, he noted that he’d like to see more from all of his players.

“I’m not going to say I’m cool with (the goaltending situation),” he said. “I want our goalies to play better, no doubt. But we want our players to play better in front of them. We still have some areas of the game that need cleaned up. That’s a daily process with players and teams. Hockey is a game of mistakes. If we can minimize the mistakes that turn into big chances, then we’re getting better. We have some work to do there.”

Ruff Stuff

Fitzgerald gave his head coach, Lindy Ruff, a vote of confidence.

“The thing I love about Lindy is his attitude never changes. It’s calm. It’s matter of fact. It’s coaching,” he said. “He’s the same person he was a year ago. He’s the same coach he was 10 years ago. He’s passionate about coaching, he’s patient about teaching, he’s patient about helping players get better.”

Contract Extensions

With his own contract extended, Fitzgerald will look at a few upcoming players who are working on expiring contracts. That would be youngster Dawson Mercer (restricted free agent) and veteran Tyler Toffoli (unrestricted free agent).

“With Dawson, we have time,” Fitzgerald said due to his RFA status. “He’s a young player that we’d love to continue to work with for the next bunch of years. I haven’t had a conversation with his agent.”

As far as Toffoli, who scored a hat trick Monday night and leads the team with 20 goals this season, the Devils are looking to ignite things a little more quickly.

“I’ve had multiple conversations with his agent,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ll sit down at some point (around the break) just to see where he’s at, what’s he thinking and talk about is there a marriage here moving forward. I like Tyler Toffoli. I think he was a really good add to our team because of his professionalism and winning pedigree. But it is a business.”

Jack-Star

Jack Hughes will be the Devils’ All-Star representative this season. But due to his upper-body injury, it’s uncertain if he’ll be able to play in the game. That said, he intends to attend.

“He will be attending the All-Star Game,” Fitzgerald confirmed. “Will he be on the ice for the All-Star Game? That’s unknown. He’s excited to be part of the festivities.”

Most importantly is Hughes, who will co-captain an All-Star team with his brother Quinn, is recovering well from his injury.

“He’s in a good place mentally,” Fitzgerald said. “He feels good physically. He’s improving every single day. That’s the most important thing. Timeframe-wise? I don’t have a timeframe.”

Dougie Update

Defenseman Dougie Hamilton has been out of the lineup since late November after tearing his pectoral muscle. The club will have a better idea soon on his expected recovery timeline.

“Two or three weeks we should have a better feel of where his timeline really looks like,” Fitzgerald said, “for him to be 100 percent back to normal and ready to play.”

Hamilton is still considered out long-term.