The New Jersey Devils are playing incredibly well this season. Many are giving credit to Tom Fitzgerald for hitting all the right buttons this offseason. He added Brett Pesce, Jonathan Kovacevic, and Brenden Dillon on defense. Every one of them have been playing better than the contract they were given. Kovacevic might be the best contract in the league. Adding Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter as forwards brought a different style of hockey.
However, to add those players, Fitzgerald had to make some hard decisions on the players that were already in the room. He had to make trades, allow players to sign elsewhere in free agency, and rarely, he had to cut some players loose. It seems like he just knows what’s happening in the room and can decide to let them sign big contracts elsewhere.
Of course, the Devils biggest acquisition this offseason was hiring Sheldon Keefe. If this was a coaching list, one could argue that Lindy Ruff, Andrew Brunette, and even Travis Green would be on that list (although the Senators have been much better as of now). So let’s take a look at some deals Fitzgerald avoided that these players’ new teams are highly regretting.
1. Damon Severson
Remaining contract: 7 years, $43.75 million
Damon Severson is the reason now, on Christmas Eve of all days, is the right time to make this list. He was listed as a healthy scratch on Monday. He is in year two of a max eight-year contract that pays him a total of $50 million. The Devils traded Severson’s contract rights as he was about to head to unrestricted free agency.
This deal didn’t make a ton of sense at the time, as Jarmo Kekäläinen gave a massive contract to a player entering his 30s and failing to ever hit superstardom. Severson was a good defenseman for the Devils. Sometimes, he was really good, but he was also incredibly frustrating, as any Devils fans would attest.
Severson hasn’t been bad this year, putting up 17 points in 34 games. This is what you should expect from Severson offensively, but something isn’t working clearly. The Blue Jackets are trying to avoid finishing in last place, and they chose on Monday that Severson was not the best player to avoid a loss.