Some fans had given up on New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald weeks ago, when he sat on his hands despite a glaringly obvious issue with goal scoring. But after heavy reporting that the Devils would add at the deadline, some chose to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Related: Get to Know Newest Devil, Cody Glass
After the 3PM deadline, as final trades started to trickle in, some hoped for the “big fish” to come. But the tide seemed to have swept all of the big fish west of New Jersey. Daniel Sprong, Marc McLaughlin and Dennis Cholowski, all in the American Hockey League (AHL), were the final acquisitions.
Needless to say, social media outrage sparked. When all was said and done, a Jack Hughes-less Devils team added Cody Glass as the only NHL-level forward. 33-year-old Brian Dumoulin was added as defensive depth. Combined, the five acquisitions have 13 goals this season.
Fitzgerald Speaks to Media
Fitzgerald seemed to imply that the Devils were in the running for a big asset but couldn’t finish the job. “For sure, there’s (some disappointment) (…) the player went to a different team and it was difficult. But you know what, that happens. You win some, you lose some. I just felt that my goal from the get-go was to add to this group, and the player that I went after hard was that player, with or without Jack we were still trying to add that, and unfortunately, we just came in second.”
The Hockey Writers asked Fitzgerald if he thinks there may be some disappointment from his team given the inability to land a high-end talent. “I’m not sure. It’s a great question,” he said. “I think there’s always excitement when people are added to the room, but when people aren’t, I don’t think there’s a disappointment. I think it’s just reality…a belief that the guys in that room are going to be the guys who are going to have to do this.”
THW also asked Fitzgerald about Sprong, who was available on waivers (for free) in December but went unclaimed. Today, the Devils gave up a seventh-round pick for him. “You know, we talked about it (in December), but we just felt, you know, we’ve seen this player in the past actually score goals and use speed, especially when Washington (played) us, and thought, ‘You know what?’, this is a low risk move, you know, with high return.”
Since Jan. 1, the Devils are 30th in the league in goal scoring, just one goal ahead of Vancouver Canucks for last. Now, they’re without J. Hughes, who was on the ice for 66% of their goals since then.
Moving Forward
As it stands, the Devils are 33-24-6 (72 pts.) and occupy the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. But the Columbus Blue Jackets (68 pts, game in hand) and New York Rangers (67 pts, game in hand) are right up their tail.
With Hughes absent, a rather unproductive bottom-six and a Dougie Hamilton injury, the outlook on the remainder of 2024-25 appears bleak. Even if they do happen to stay afloat enough to make the playoffs, a Devils’ Stanley Cup would rival Miracle on Ice for the greatest underdog story in American sports. That is how unintimidating they look on paper. On all accounts, the deadline was a failure.
