Twenty-nine. Twenty-nine goals between Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler combined have contributed to the New Jersey Devils this season. Now, obviously, Hughes has a majority of those with 27, but Siegenthaler is the best defensive defenseman the Devils have this season. Now, both are done for the year.
Both contracts have been placed on long-term injured reserve, giving the Devils around $13 million in LTIR cap space to try and spend to replace what those two, most importantly Hughes, can bring to the team. How did General Manager Tom Fitzgerald respond to one of the most critical times in the Devils' franchise history?
He added 11 goals of production. Between Brian Dumoulin, Cody Glass, Daniel Sprong, and Dennis Cholowski, he added 11 goals. Cholowski and Sprong have mostly played in the AHL this season. Sprong, in fact, was placed on waivers twice this season, meaning Fitzgerald could have had him for free earlier in the year.
In one of the most important trade deadlines of his career, Tom Fitzgerald came up with a complete dud. The Devils were long rumored to be involved with some of the bigger names rumored to be out there. Elias Pettersson, Jared McCann, Ryan O'Reilly, and others, to name a few.
The center he got was Glass. A bottom six guy who is more defense than offense. In the deal, Fitzgerald also traded Chase Stillman, making him the third first round pick out of seven that Fitzgerald has traded. The others being Alexander Holtz and Shakir Mukhamadoulin.
With the loss of Siegenthaler for the year, the addition of Dumoulin softens the blow just slightly. The price was what raised eyebrows. A second-round pick and a player you just picked in the third round a year ago for an expiring deal, while Anaheim retained salary, was and still is confusing. Why did Anaheim retain salary when you did not maximize the cap space you had?
Tom Fitzgerald had a chance to save the New Jersey Devils season at the NHL Trade Deadline
Adding Cholowski also does not make sense. The Devils already have a log jam at the position. Unless the Devils send Seamus Casey or Simon Nemec to the AHL, it is hard to see how Cholowski plays a game in a Devils uniform.
The Devils also traded away Utica's second-leading scorer in Adam Beckman. The 24-year-old Beckman never played a game for the Devils, even though he could have chipped in offensively if given the chance. Chowlowski is a UFA at the end of this season at 27 years old. Giving up on scoring to add yet another defenseman is not something the Devils should be doing.
The Devils are already in a position where they should not be comfortable in a playoff spot. Columbus, who added, is hot on their tails. The New York Rangers have seemingly got their game back since trading for JT Miller.
At a time when the Devils must make the playoffs and try to take the next step, their General Manager failed them. While other teams were willing to pay high prices for players, the Devils settled on spending low on fliers like Sprong and Glass. With the high premium they did pay, they did not have to since they still have a ton of cap space.
The Devils' bottom-six offense has been poor at best, rarely chipping in goals. To add only Glass and Sprong while trading away a young asset in Beckman sends a confusing message. In an ever-evolving Eastern Conference, Justin Dowling is still a third-line player for the Devils. That is an absolute failure on the part of Tom Fitzgerald.
While the players left after the injuries to Hughes, Siegenthaler, and Dougie Hamilton, it would have been nice to see Fitzgerald trade for a big fish. Instead, the Devils are headed into the final stretch of the year, not much better than they were going into the new year. The Devils are in the bottom five teams in terms of points percentage since January 1st.
Whether Fitzgerald waited too long to make a trade or decided to pack it in and do the bare minimum is yet to be seen. There is no question however, the 2025 offseason is the most important in Fitzgerald's career as General Manager. However, it depends on what his team does the rest of the way to see if he even makes it to the offseason still in charge.