Tom Fitzgerald’s Trade For John Marino Already Looks Like A Fleecing

Highway robbery!

This past offseason, the New Jersey Devils traded Ty Smith and a 2023 third-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman John Marino. This one may top former Devils GM Ray Shero’s trade for Taylor Hall. We all know about “the trade is one-for-one” when they sent defenseman Adam Larsson to the Edmonton Oilers. It’s the most lopsided trade in franchise history that was clear at the moment it happened. (Scott Niedermayer and Martin Brodeur trades were for draft picks that eventually became Hall of Famers.)

Tom Fitzgerald has already fleeced his former employer by weaponizing the cap space left by Johnny Gaudreau ghosting the Devils during free agency. Instead of locking $9 million into a scoring winger, he was able to get Marino’s hit and Ondrej Palat.

John Marino has been stellar on the Devils’ blueline and has become a fan favorite recently. He is the Devils’ version of Adam Fox, which he coincidently played with at Harvard University.  So far this season, the blueliner has scored two goals and six assists with a +9 rating. It is far from what the Devils fans saw from Ty Smith, who is playing with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In fairness to Smith, Pittsburgh has salary cap issues forcing Smith to play in the minor leagues.

The best thing about this trade is that Marino has a salary cap AAV of $4.4M till the end of the 2026-27 season. That is insane! Not only is his contract very reasonable for the next five seasons, according to CapFriendly, but it gives Fitzgerald the option at the trade deadline of moving expiring contracts like Damon Severson and Ryan Graves. They are both unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, whether the Devils are buyers or sellers. Moreover, Marino will be a fixture and a mainstay in the Garden State for years to come.

Only time will tell if this may be the all-time trade fleecing in New Jersey Devils history. But for now, it sure feels that way!