Post-Mortem: New Jersey Devils' Next GM Must Get Bold

For the second time in the past three seasons, the New Jersey Devils are about to finish in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division.

Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers means the Devils are eliminated from playoff contention, missing the playoffs for the second time in four seasons and the 12th time in 16 seasons.

If it weren't for the New York Rangers being a gong show, the Devils would be the biggest mess in the New York area. And on Monday, New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald paid for another subpar season with his job when he and the team agreed to part ways.

But Fitzgerald's dismissal shouldn't be the only major change for the Devils. This core has consistently underachieved, and whoever winds up replacing Fitzgerald needs to send a shot across the bow by shaking up his core with a big trade that makes material changes to the Devils' group.

Three seasons ago, the Devils looked to be turning a page by finishing third overall in the NHL. They finished seventh in the Metropolitan Division the following year.

They looked to have bounced back last season under new coach Sheldon Keefe. They made the playoffs with the third-best power-play success rate (28.2 percent), the second-best penalty-kill rate (82.7 percent) and the fifth-fewest goals against per game (2.68).

One of their biggest struggles last season, however, was their offense, which averaged 2.93 goals-for per game.

The team looked to have solved its scoring troubles when it went on an eight-game win streak early in this season. The Devils outscored their opponents 32-16 in that span.

But the offense ultimately worsened, and neither their special teams nor their defense could make up for them. It caused four losing streaks of at least four games.

The Devils are averaging the sixth-fewest goals-for per game, at 2.76.

Their power play ranks 13th, at 22.1 percent. They've scored 17 fewer power-play goals than last year on 17 fewer opportunities so far.

Their penalty-kill rate of 79.2 percent ranks 16th. They've conceded three more power-play goals against them despite being shorthanded 23 fewer times so far.

After allowing the sixth-fewest shots against per game last season, they've now allowed the 12th-fewest. And yet, they now rank 16th in the NHL in fewest goals against per game, with 3.05.

New Jersey has the 11th-worst save percentage this season, according to naturalstattrick.com. Starting goalie Jacob Markstrom has an .883 save percentage and 3.07 goals-against average in 44 games despite having a .900 SP and 2.50 GAA in 49 games last season.

Combine those troubles with star center Jack Hughes missing time due to a freak off-ice hand injury and a lower-body injury, as well as left winger Jesper Bratt and captain Nico Hischier scoring at a lower rate than last year, and the Devils just could not keep up with a more competitive Eastern Conference this season.

For what it's worth, the Devils made the playoffs with 91 points last season. This season, 91 points would have had them one point out of the second wild-card spot. But while much of the conference stepped it up, they've done anything but that.

You could forgive the Devils if their poor play this year was a one-off. But we've seen this act before.

Fitzgerald is a good hockey person and a good person in general, and he'll find work with another fortunate team soon enough. But the New Jersey team he built simply did not live up to expectations. And the next Devils team needs to look significantly different.

Now, we get it – the Devils' core of Jack Hughes, young defenseman Luke Hughes, center Hischier, Bratt and defenseman Dougie Hamilton are hard to cast aspersions on. And it would have to take a king's ransom to get equal value for a player at that end of the talent spectrum.

But how can you keep coming back with the same group and expecting different results?

Even though Fitzgerald's replacement is projected to have nearly $12.2 million in salary cap space to use to improve next season, some of that will have to go to RFA blueliner Simon Nemec, and some of it will be needed to fill out the roster.

This summer's UFA market likely won't solve New Jersey's problems. The highest-scoring pending UFAs are right-handed D-man Darren Raddysh (69 points), right winger Alex Tuch (62 points), left winger Alex Ovechkin (61 points) and left winger Anthony Mantha (61 points).

Ovechkin would almost certainly re-sign with his Washington Capitals if he decides to play another season. Tuch is the most proven of the remaining three, but with the Buffalo Sabres making the playoffs, they should have an easier time re-signing him.

Raddysh could be an effective two-way blueliner who addresses their scoring problems, but this is the 30-year-old's first season of recording more than 40 points. It's also Mantha's first season of exceeding 50 points. The Devils have already struggled with players whose stats dropped after acquiring them.

Money gets spent quickly, so we shouldn't think the Devils will outbid opponents to win out on the top free agents. They'll have enough for a different mid-tier player, and that's about it.

This is why a brand-name talent must be removed from New Jersey's group – and why a brand-name talent needs to be acquired in return.

The Devils would be making a huge move from a position of strength, with nobody publicly asking out and diminishing New Jersey's leverage. 

What about Dawson Mercer?

He has 18 goals and 39 points in 77 games this season – the third straight year his point total will be in the 30-to-40-point range after a career-best 56 points in 2022-23.

Mercer is only 24, but the problem with trading him now is his value has plateaued for the time being, although you'd still be able to get something solid for him.

But again, you're not going to acquire an above-average player unless you trade an above-average player.

So if the Devils need someone who can boost their offense and defense, considering they missed out on the chance to acquire Quinn Hughes, they'll have to pay a lot to find another needle-mover.

A counterargument is the core is less of an issue, and some of the major acquisitions Fitzgerald made in recent years have not had their desired effect.

Whether it's due to injuries or just a straight-ahead drop in play, left winger Timo Meier, defenseman Brett Pesce and goalie Markstrom had a tough year. Meier, however, has just not been the same sniper he was in 2022-23 when the Devils made a nine-player trade with the San Jose Sharks to acquire him.

Even veteran forwards Evgenii Dadonov, Nick Bjugstad and Maxim Tsyplakov were acquisitions this season who didn't pan out well. And veteran right winger Stefan Noesen, who has been injured for much of this season, has seen his production drop sharply from the 41 points he had last year to just seven points in 38 games this year.

We can accept that the supporting cast for New Jersey should be changed substantially. We just wouldn't stop there.

Given how often the Devils looked utterly lifeless this season – remember, this is a team that buried their playoff chances by losing seven of eight games, all in regulation time, from the end of January to the end of February – there has to be major surgery done to bring the team back to life. Maybe it takes trading a core player to boost the supporting cast and improve the team overall.

If the Devils' results were bad enough to part with a GM who had many of his moves endorsed by the hockey hoi polloi, they're bad enough to trigger a major piece of the puzzle being dealt.

The promise of New Jersey's youth movement has not been realized, and while sometimes it makes sense for a team to stick with its core, we've seen enough of the Devils' core to know we don't want to see the same routine again.

Jonathan Tovell contributed to the "what went wrong" section.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.