The New Jersey Devils have taken a meticulous approach to a rebuild, spending smart while drafting well. It all started going really well once Tom Fitzgerald took over. While Ray Shero made some amazing moves, he also screwed the pooch on multiple occasions. That’s why he got fired. However, Fitzgerald’s worst move might be one of his late first-round picks, or possibly the Andreas Johnsson trade. Maybe it’s the Corey Crawford signing. Either way, none of these moves had a long impact.
After the Devils finally broke through and made the playoffs last season, the hype around the team is at an all-time high. Honestly, the hype feels like it’s higher than it should be. This is almost as high as it was during the early 2000s. That was a legit contender every season.
Every year, The Athletic ranks the top front office in the league. This season, the Devils took the top spot. They received “A”s in every ranking, including trades, draft and development, and cap management. It’s wild to think this was a team that just took Simon Nemec with the second-overall pick a year ago. This turnaround seems out of this world.
The ranking makes sense, though. Fitzgerald is often pulling a MasterClass on the rest of the league. The Timo Meier trade is a perfect example. Fitz waited it out and got the best deal. He traded from a position of strength, using the depth of the system to give the Sharks quantity over quality. Now, at the height of this trade, he will give up a floundering NHL player (Zetterlund), a risky former first-round pick (Mukhamadullin), a depth prospect defenseman (Okhotyuk), and draft picks.
It was a large trade, but it was to get Timo Meier. Then, he signed Meier to an eight-year deal. This came a few weeks after he signed Jesper Bratt, who had multiple terrible negotiations before that. The Devils don’t have to worry about that until 2035. Fitzgerald is crushing this offseason.
Arguably where Fitzgerald really excels is knowing when to quit on a player and using their youth to get a more established player. He turned Ty Smith into John Marino. Pavel Zacha magically became Erik Haula. Then, this offseason, he traded Yegor Sharangovich and a draft pick for Tyler Toffoli.
FItzgerald is crushing it, and the national media is taking notice. The Athletic was often very favorable towards Fitzgerald and his work. This time, he’s leading the list.