New Jersey Devils Assistant General Manager Tom Fitzgerald shared some insight into the moves General Manager Ray Shero made during the Trade Deadline on February 25 and what that means for the Devils both in the immediate and distant future.
Q&A with Devils Assistant General Manager Tom Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald explains the Devils trade deadline moves and what it means for the future
By
Caela McLoughlin @NJDevils / newjerseydevils.com
Q: What does it mean for the Devils to have six draft picks in the first three rounds of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft?
A: It means a lot. This draft is important because it's a deep draft. To have that many picks early is something we strived for knowing we were going to get rid of players and ask for those type of assets in return for them. The greatest thing about those assets is, because of how deep this draft is, we can do whatever we want with those picks. We can use those picks to pick players, we can package the picks for other NHL players, we can package a couple third round picks to move into the second, or package them however we'd like. So, we have a lot of exciting options for the draft because of the work Ray [Shero] and the staff has done moving out players for assets like draft picks.
Q: How do the trades we made impact the team on a short-term basis? What about a long-term basis?
A: I think the long-term is the asset return. We may use those for actual picks, or to package picks to get a better pick, either way, we're talking about the future. We may be able to use picks like we did with the Marcus Johansson trade a few years back and get a player that can come into our line up and be an impact player like Marcus was - that's the future. In the present, it allows our Binghamton players to come up, get some NHL experience, and give us a snapshot of what they are, what they can be, and what we have coming, when it comes to building out the roster. First and foremost, it's a tremendous opportunity for all these kids that are currently up, so hopefully they take advantage of it. And we're going to see more coming up. Brett Seney and Joey Anderson have been up, but them along with Brandon Gignac, Marian Studenic, Colton White and Josh Jacobs are the guys that might be up in New Jersey. The plan is to see what we have with those guys and we have an opportunity to do that from here to the end of the season. That's how moving players effects the current roster.
Q: How do you make the decisions to trade guys like Johansson, Boyle or Lovejoy and how that relates to the long-term plan?
A: Obviously, the state of the team at that moment and where you stand in the playoff picture is how you make those decisions. Last year, we were adding players, we weren't deleting players. The common denominator of all these players was they had expiring contracts. They were looked upon as rentals rather more than a hockey trade where you're bringing back an asset that you control contractually. Keith Kinkaid, Johansson, Brian Boyle, and Ben Lovejoy - those are the attractive guys for other teams because they can just rent them, they don't have to lock into them. Maybe Nashville resigns Boyle because they like what they saw when they acquired him, same with Boston and Johansson, Dallas with Lovejoy, or Columbus with Keith - it's really that they're not tied to these players. They get to test drive them and see if they want to purchase them moving forward.
Q: What players do trades like these open the door for in the immediate future? How does this push those players to earn a spot in New Jersey?
A: I think the biggest door that opened up was for goaltending, for Mackenzie Blackwood. Our goaltending has been subpar - everybody knows that, our goalies know that, they've had ups and downs. The silver lining of it was that Mackenzie Blackwood came up. He earned the opportunity, he took advantage of the opportunity, and he's consistently doing it game in and game out in New Jersey. And to us, that's the silver lining of this - we now believe we have a future NHL goalie. Moving Kinkaid out, should give Blackwood all the confidence in the world that we trust him and that he's a big part of our future and that's starting now. It goes back to Ray and John Hynes - it is a meritocracy. They players come in and we've got spots. We tell them to come in and earn it. They don't have to take it away from anybody. The Colemans, the Bratts and the Gibbons of last year, came in last year and made our team. This year, we had a couple of guys, like Drew Stafford, who come in and makes our team and earn a contract. Quenneville makes our team out of the gate then kind of plateaued a little bit, so we have the option to send him down because he doesn't need waivers. We believe that with the way our organization is trending, and that's drafting well and developing well, and part of developing is playing NHL games. Whether it's five games, ten games or more, it's an opportunity for these guys to come up and show us what they've got and they're going to push hard for a spot next year with us. We're not going to go out and sign 13 one-way contracts. If 13 guys are on a one-way deal and they're in New Jersey, and the rest of the guys are on two-way contracts, there's no hope. There's always going to be hope. It's part of our culture to push guys knowing they have to compete for jobs and jobs will be won and open. That's really the whole idea of this, creating competition and that's what John and Ray have done.
Q: For the younger players now that have the opportunity to be up in New Jersey, what helps you gauge their development and readiness to take the next step and be an NHL player year-round?
A: I think that players that we see up and that the fans see here are guys that have earned to be here. Granted, we've got a lot of injuries, but McLeod has had a really good rookie year in Binghamton. Bastian has played well and earned the call up. Quenneville has played well down in Binghamton. The same with Joey Anderson when he was there. All these kids have earned that right to come up.
Once players earn it like they have, now that they're getting the opportunity, they have to take advantage of it. They have to take advantage of every shift because it's not guaranteed that they're going to get a next shift. And then, most importantly, consistently doing that and taking advantage of it game in and game out. Coach is trusting them and they're building, as I call it, sweat equity with the coach. He's able to continue to put these players out there and maybe they have a bad game, but they've built up an equity with the coach. They might have a subpar game but the coach trusts that they're going to get back in there and they're going to find their game. Those are the 3 things in my opinion that are important: earning the opportunity, taking advantage of the opportunity, and consistently playing at a high level. We've seen guys who have done that - Seney, Anderson, Bastian - and McLeod has an opportunity to do it. It should give these guys hope that they can play in the NHL because it sure gives us hope that we have future National Hockey League players, and every day National Hockey League players, chomping at the bit to be in New Jersey.
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