'You Can’t Trade Your Way Out Of This': Devils' Fitzgerald Emphasizes Accountability & Belief

Jacob Markstrom made a save on Vince Dunn and cleared the puck to Luke Hughes. The young defenseman spun in his zone and swiftly passed the puck to his older brother, Jack Hughes. Within seconds, the 24-year-old moved the puck up ice to Nico Hischier, who made his way towards the Seattle Kraken’s zone. The Swiss center skated towards Philipp Grubauer‘s net and fell to the ice as he saw the puck go into the back of Seattle’s goal, securing his team a 3-2 overtime victory.

It was the New Jersey Devils' second straight win after dropping four straight games from Jan. 4 to Jan. 11.

During that week, things looked dire for the club, with head coach Sheldon Keefe using the word 'crisis' in one of his media availabilities.

“Part of coaching is you have to deal with crisis, challenges,” Keefe said after his team’s 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. “These kinds of things excite me. I believe I can be part of the solution here, and I am going to keep doing my job to find the answers."

Keefe saw his team jump back into the win column against the Minnesota Wild on Monday. With a lineup that included a healthy Evgenii Dadonov and Johnathan Kovacevic, and one motivated Dougie Hamilton, who was healthy scratched the game prior, New Jersey earned a 5-2 victory at Grand Casino Arena.

As it stands, the Devils are four points out of playoff position with 35 games remaining in the 2025-26 schedule.

Within that bleak seven-day window, Luke Hughes was booed by the home crowd, the Devils suffered an embarrassing 9-0 loss to the New York Islanders, and Keefe fielded questions about his job security.

Throughout all of that, there was one question: where is the team’s general manager, Tom Fitzgerald?

On Wednesday morning, before the Devils' morning skate at Prudential Center, Fitzgerald sat at the center of a long rectangular table surrounded by the local media for a round table Q&A.

The Quinn Hughes trade, reports surrounding Ondrej Palat, a very public exchange between Hamilton’s agent, J.P. Barry, and Fitzgerald, and No-Movement Clauses were all discussed. With so many questions about potential trade situations, The Hockey News asked Fitzgerald if he believed he could trade his way out of his team’s current problems, and if he can’t, how does his group get out of their current rut?

“How do you get out of this? I would like to think the Minnesota game was the start of this,” he said. “I think it is keeping yourself accountable, keeping your teammates accountable, and me keeping everybody accountable, that the status quo isn’t good enough. The mindset of going into a practice day or today at morning skate, (and say) what is going to change?

“You can’t trade your way out of this,” he continued. “You want to look at the leaders and the leadership group that we have to help say the right things, but do the right things. Everybody's intention is to do the right thing, but actions need to be kept accountable.”

It was a 54-second response that led to more questions. What if his team did lose that game against the Kraken? Then what is the next step for this organization? Thankfully for Fitzgerald, his 27-year-old captain led the Devils to victory, giving the team a much-needed boost of confidence and the fans a sliver, and I mean sliver, of optimism.

Fitzgerald spoke to the local media for approximately 37 minutes, and the biggest takeaway is that it did not change the team's current state or calm the waters, as disgruntled, frustrated fans continued to flood social media with their displeasure over the Devils’ situation.

While it is important for the general manager to show their face and take accountability, full transparency is rarely given in those settings, especially when the general manager is still working behind the scenes.

Fitzgerald did state that he and Keefe, who is in his second season with the club, were “in lockstep.” He further said that the job security of Keefe’s assistant coaches, including Brad Shaw and Jeremy Colliton, is safe. When it comes to his players, especially his core, he still supports the ones he is building around.

"I believe in the core," he said. "We as an organization believe in this core. We have seen them at the top of their game, and we all like it. I am excited to see this team as a whole right now and where we can take it.”

“I know what 'Fitzy' believes," Hischier told the media Wednesday morning. "I know he believes in us, and our job is to do that on the ice and give back to that belief he gives to us."

Hischier’s fingerprints are all over the Devils' most recent two victories, with four points (two goals, two assists). Hamilton has been impactful since being inserted back into the lineup with three primary assists. Jesper Bratt scored two of the team’s goals in Minnesota, while Cody Glass and Palat have found the back of the net as well.

As of Jan. 14, there doesn’t appear to be a big shake-up coming to the Devils. That doesn’t necessarily mean moves won’t be made ahead of the trade deadline, but don’t expect an in-house overhaul.

Winning cures everything, and if the Devils can improve upon Wednesday’s victory, the noise around the team will slowly lower as they will prove Fitzgerald correct in his assessment that accountability and mindset alone can help his team out of their current rut.

If not, and the inconsistencies continue, Fitzgerald will need to provide answers that go beyond belief, mindset, and accountability at his next media availability. 

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