Same Group “Won’t Be Coming Back”, Says Devils GM

New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald told the media on Thursday, “We won’t be coming back with the same group. Because it was just not good enough.” Unhappy with the club’s finish to the season and injury to Jack Hughes, Fitzgerald noted, “I like our group. My job is to continue to better the group. And we’ve got a lot of decisions to make on certain players, bringing guys back, trading players…”

Fitzgerald also noted that Hughes has a lot of work to do in preparation for next season. Suggesting it won’t be an easy recovery, this summer will be a challenge for the team’s top forward. Fitzgerald said it’s not just a “snap of the fingers” thing to keep Hughes’ shoulder healthy.

Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler also dealt with leg injuries. The Devils then lost Brenden Dillon, Luke Hughes, and Johnathan Kovacevic to injuries in the playoffs. It was bad news upon bad news down the stretch for the hockey club.

“I think players underachieved,’ said Fitzgerald. He added “I bang my head against the wall everyday wondering, “What is depth scoring?” I’ve asked my team, analytics group, tell me what the great teams in this league have in [terms of] depth scoring.”

Who Could Be Leaving the Devils?

The Devils have pending UFAs in Jake Allen, Nathan Bastian, Dennis Cholowski, Justin Dowling, Brian Dumoulin, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong, and Tomas Tatar, some or all of them might not be re-signed.

They also have RFAs in Luke Hughes, Cody Glass, and Nolan Foote.

Luke Hughes will likely sign a long-term extension. That may be where the Devils start spending their money. What they have remaining after that will dictate other decisions.

Fitzgerald will be feeling the heat to make the right moves and restructure his roster in an attempt to have better success in 2025-26. Can he do it? He seems eager to.

Next: Rick Tocchet Becoming Plan A for Bruins’ Head Coaching Job