If you spend too much time on social media this summer, you would think the New Jersey Devils traded Jack Hughes for a ham sandwich and Nico Hischier for a payday loan. The fanbase is quite upset with the moves the Devils made. Actually, they are more upset with the lack of movement.
Most fans are on board with signing Arseniy Gritsyuk and Lenni Hameenaho from overseas and adding Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov from free agency, but with Luke Hughes still without a contract, two huge holes within the forward group, and the ever-present Ondrej Palat contract still on the books, fans are not thrilled with the overall performance of the front office.
The issues are larger than just this season. Fitzgerald doesn’t have the draft pedigree that his predecessor, Ray Shero, had. Out of his first-round picks, only Luke Hughes is considered an out-and-about win. He did go without a first-rounder in 2023 and 2025, the two years the Devils made the playoffs, but most would expect more from Alex Holtz (7th overall), Shakir Mukhamadullin (20th overall), Chase Stillman (29th overall), Simon Nemec (2nd overall), and even Dawson Mercer (18th overall).
There have been no deep cuts for Fitzgerald in the draft, but to be fair, those often take a long time to develop.
The reasons continue, with some of his free agent signings coming with varied impacts to the team. Dougie Hamilton was very much a win, but Palat hasn’t been nearly as impactful after his groin injury early in his first year with the Devils.
Crowdsourcing finds interesting analysis of GM Tom Fitzgerald
However, those looking from the outside believe the Devils have themselves a good GM. A new crowdsourcing analysis from The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn found that the “public” gave the Devils' front office a “B+” overall. That would put them in the top 10 in the entire league.
The Devils fanbase gave Fitzgerald a “C+” on his job. Every grade, from “roster building” to “team vision,” received either a B- or C+ grade.
The fanbase has experienced a significant shift in confidence in Fitzgerald and Co. Overall, 45 percent of voters have less confidence in Fitzgerald than they did at this time last season.
Luszczyszyn rightly points out that the 2025-26 season is important to see if the right pieces are in place to take advantage of this core. When combining the public rankings and fanbase rankings, the Devils remain 13th, which feels right. Despite how everyone might feel about Fitzgerald, there are more GMs worse than him in the league than there are that are better than him. Whether that’s good enough to win a Stanley Cup is yet to be seen, but for now, the Devils are still competing.