THREE THINGS: Fitzgerald's Year End Press Conference

Following the end of season team activities, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald spoke to media about the season, staff changes and the future of the team. Here are three of the biggest takeaways from the press conference on this edition of Three Things presented by GEICO.

1. On Recent Coaching Changes

"It was a tough moment. It's never easy when you're letting two people, two really great people, two really great human beings who gave a lot in different situations, but it's very tough. But with that being said, as we roll through the last year and a half, we're evaluating every single day, and the evaluations will continue moving forward on all aspects of our hockey operations … so when you evaluate daily, then you start realizing some different needs you believe the organization needs.
"At this time, we felt with Nasreddine and Nasreddine felt with himself that we both mutually agreed it would be best to go separate ways, for his growth as well. He's been here for seven years, I thank him, his family. Good coach, better person.
"Mark Recchi, thank him and his family as well, coming in, giving everything he had to the organization and really appreciate that. But really for me, it was time for different voices in certain areas of our games and tactically that I felt was needed."

2. Upcoming Free Agents:

With forwards Jesper Bratt and Pavel Zacha restricted free agents, defenseman P.K. Subban and forward Jimmy Vesey as unrestricted free agents this off-season, Fitzgerald discussed these players and their potential futures with the Devils. Fitzgerald noted that the team looks at any internal options the Devils may have before they re-sign any players.
On Bratt:
"Jesper Bratt is a big part of our future, we saw that (this season). He's a tremendous young player. Where he's grown over the past two years, I can't keep emphasizing the positives of the last two years with the individual play. We want Jesper Bratt here long term and that's my job, to work out a deal with his agent.
"The goal is to get Jesper Bratt under contract and be part of the puzzle that we're building here and realistically, prices are also part of the puzzle. And that's where we have to figure out where we are with him. But we absolutely need Jesper Bratt in our line up."
On Zacha:
"He's an RFA this summer, he has arbitration rights, I will talk to his agent. I have to really look at the big picture of how we're constructing this team to move forward, to be a playoff team, that's our goal, that's everybody's goal. But it's expected from my end, to everybody else's end. Then above and beyond that, what's the characteristics we have on our roster look like in the playoffs and where Pavel fits, we'll go through that process internally, what we need, does he fit. He's a good player. He's a really good young player … everybody's looking players for that. We're no different. I just want to see where some of the ducks fall on where we want to build this team."
On Vesey:
"I think Jimmy Vesey came in here, he earned a spot on this team, I can put my head on the pillow every night knowing I helped grow his game to a point where if it's not here, someone will find value in him at the NHL level to help their team."
On Subban:
"Very transparent with P.K., right shot defensemen do not grow on trees. With P.K. I said it's not a matter for today. I want to continue to help grow our team. Do we have internal options? Possibly … but it's an open-ended conversation."

3. The Future

"It's easy to look at the negatives of losing, it is. It's part of the evaluations you go through every single day with our entire staff and our players. But when you look at what we believe is the strength of our team, how we're going to play down the road, that snap shot of when we had all of our players together … we were a hard team to play against. Other teams said that. We couldn't sustain that, for obvious reasons, and it's tough. It's tough to say would we have been an 88 to 90 point team if we had this or if everyone was healthy.
"I really believe in the process, I really believe in these young players, I really believe in the things that I talked about early that have to get better, the standards, the habits … I do think we are a better team than how we finished. The data tells us that, and I believe in that stuff, but we have to play the right way."