"If we're scratching and clawing for that wild-card spot, that whole jockey thing, you're in, you're out, the one thing that was probably going to keep me up at night was selling off our UFAs," Fitzgerald, the Devils general manager, said on the "NHL @TheRink" podcast Wednesday, on the subject of potential unrestricted free agents.
Fitzgerald didn't have to worry too much about that; the Devils acquired forward Timo Meier and center Curtis Lazar in advance of the deadline last week, kept their pending unrestricted free agents -- forwards Miles Wood, Tomas Tatar and Erik Haula and defensemen Ryan Graves and Damon Severson -- and they're making a push for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
New Jersey (41-16-6) is four points behind the Carolina Hurricanes with 19 games remaining. Carolina has 20 games left.
"We continued to sustain the level of play that we did and it just became evident that we were going to rent our own players," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald spoke to co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke about why the Devils have been one of the most consistently strong teams in the NHL this season, discussing their pace, their in-your-face attack mode, and who has made the biggest splash.
He also discussed the importance of assistant general manager Kate Madigan and director of player development Meghan Duggan, raving about the impact each has made on him and the Devils.
In addition, Rosen and Roarke talked about appreciating the greatness of Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and the reasons why Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper can confidently bench star players without fear of it becoming a bigger problem.
And at the end of the show they got into a debate about who should be the favorites for the Norris Trophy, voted as the NHL's best defenseman, the Calder Trophy, voted as best rookie and the Hart Trophy, voted as the League's most valuable player.
It's fair to say there were some disagreements.
The "NHL @TheRink"podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on
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