The New Jersey Devils' season is officially off the rails. After losing to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon, a team that’s won one previous game in almost a month, they are on yet another four-game losing streak. They are sinking down the Eastern Conference standings, and the clock is running out fast despite it being just January.
Early in the season and through December, the Devils’ lackluster play could be blamed on injuries. Jack Hughes, Brett Pesce, Jacob Markstrom, Evgenii Dadonov, Simon Nemec, and multiple other players missed significant time during the season. All of them, plus anyone else who is going to return, are back. Stefan Noesen and Zack MacEwen both had knee surgery last week, and they are going to miss significant time, but they both should be fourth liners on this team.
This is considered a fully-healthy lineup. Some are playing through injuries, as both Pesce and Hughes look like they are still working through their injuries, and Hughes is still in a cast, but they are on the ice, contributing.
Yet, the losses keep compounding. The Devils are losing to everyone, and the body language is terrible. Even when they score, the body language is visually awful. Players are not cheering for goals. They fall two notches in their effort after every goal against. This team has significant issues that must be addressed.
Many are calling for firings, and it’s not out of the realm of questioning. We hear the call for firings during any moments of scrutiny, and most times, it’s just online chatter, but this is too many years of futility and a failure to live up to expectations to remove all accountability.
Despite this, it sounds like Devils ownership has no interest in firing GM Tom Fitzgerald. Elliotte Friedman on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast discussed the Devils in depth. He mentioned the drama surrounding Dougie Hamilton, Ondrej Palat’s trade situation, the future direction for the franchise, and more, but the most startling rumor he shared was a rumor of status quo.
"(T)hings are happening now that they did not consider that they would be doing at the beginning of the year and scratching Dougie Hamilton is one of them. You know, Tom Fitzgerald, I expect the season plays out before they go down that road (on this job security). "Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts
Despite the losses, Tom Fitzgerald is safe as New Jersey Devils GM
Friedman would go on to say that this has become “very emotional” around the Devils. Obviously, there have been multiple nerves hit on the Dougie Hamilton benching. However, it has to be more than that. There are emotions surrounding Fitzgerald’s failed attempt to acquire Quinn Hughes. Half the locker room has been tied to trade rumors, including young players Dawson Mercer and Simon Nemec. The injuries have taken a toll, and there is no joy in that locker room.
Yet, a major change isn’t coming. Fitzgerald looks like he is going to, at a minimum, get a chance to handle the trade deadline for the Devils. That is a scary proposition, depending on how desperate he approaches it. Could we see a foundation-shaking trade? What happens when you shake a foundation that’s already cracked? The building collapses.
For now, the owners are giving Fitzgerald a few months to right the ship. We’ll see if that’s a regrettable decision.