It was a busy offseason for Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils. Fitzgerald felt the team needed to improve in several areas to regain the playoff picture. During his media availability, Fitzgerald was pleased that he could add size and strength to the lineup and bring a little bit of violence to the roster. He also got his number-one goaltender. Besides the roster improvements, Fitzgerald hired a new coach, Sheldon Keefe, to guide these players in the right direction.
As Fitzgerald said, he was able to check off a lot of items on his off-season punch list. The New Jersey Devils are much improved over last season, especially between the pipes and on defense. There is no reason why they can’t compete for a playoff spot this season. While Tom Fitzgerald is confident in the roster improvements, the games are still played on ice and not on paper. But that does not mean Fitzgerald and the Devils can’t be graded on paper.
New Jersey Devils Getting Heavier and Meaner on Day 1 of Free Agency
Staying with the offseason, Devils Nation will grade Fitzgerald over a four-part season on his offseason and whether those areas were truly improved. We start with Goaltending.
Grading the New Jersey Devils Offseason
Goaltending Grade: A
The Devils acquisition of Jacob Markstrom at the goaltending position is a massive upgrade from what they had a year ago. New Jersey needed a true number-one starter, not two 1B guys. This area needed to be upgraded last offseason, entering the 23-24 season.
Fitzgerald knew he had a tandem to compete with any NHL team. Acquiring Markstrom does that, and boy, what he gave up to get him is part of why he got an A. Fitzgerald sent Kevin Bahl and a 2025 first-round draft pick (top 10 protected) to the Flames for Markstrom. The Flames retain 31.25% of Markstrom’s salary—$1.875 million. So between Markstrom at $4 million AAV and Jake Allen at $1.5 million, the Devils have a salary cap hit of $6.5 million between both goaltenders. That is a good piece of business.
However, Fitzgerald believed in Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid despite being exposed by the Carolina Hurricanes in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Look, hindsight is always 20-20, but how many people thought Vanecek would replicate a 30-win season? Schmid saved the Devils in the first round of the playoffs, and New Jersey was not going to catch anyone by surprise. But it was a bit of a surprise that the Devils and Tom Fitzgerald did not add a goaltender last off-season.
Most believed that if the Devils had gotten a goaltender last season, there was a chance they could have made a deeper run to the playoffs with the roster. Even with the directional changes by the organization and getting younger on the backend, the Devils, if they had a number one goalie, might not have been exposed defensively.
How the Jacob Markstrom Trade to New Jersey Came About
Schmid struggled to find his game and went down to the minors. Now he is off in Vegas. Fitzgerald traded him to the Golden Knights as part of a package for Paul Cotter. At times, the Devils saw Nico Daws as the starting goalie. But again, the Devils were asking too much from their goaltenders.
While Fitzgerald eventually upgraded the goaltending with Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen at the trade deadline, it was too late. The damage was already done. Many wondered why it was not done sooner. If Fitzgerald had done it sooner, the Devils could have grabbed the final wild-card spot in the East, which was wide open until the final day of the regular season.
Looking back, it was best for the Devils to miss the playoffs. Now the Devils have that with Markstrom. Even if there are holes in the new and improved defense, Markstrom has faced more high-danger shots in Calgary and Vancouver. He will be there to make the saves he is supposed to make and the one or two needed to win a game and a series. Markstrom was the starter the Devils needed.
This was the biggest priority of the offseason, and Fitzgerald got his man. Markstrom wanted to be in New Jersey, and Fitzgerald was happy to have landed him.
So, Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils get an A for this position.
Stay tuned for the rest of the series, looking at the New Jersey Devils offseason grades.
