On one hand, it feels like ownership has failed fans and the team by not being more willing to spend. On the other hand, it’s hard not to believe in the guys still on the ice.
If you have been reading All About the Jersey throughout this season, you probably remember the trove of trade discussion that has marked this site since the New Year. With Jacob Markstrom out of the lineup, a languishing bottom six, and an injury to Jonas Siegenthaler, the Devils had the cap space to make a huge splash at the deadline while mending some of their flaws. Weeks or months of building expectations can prove to be hard to match, as Tom Fitzgerald recently experienced. After his deadline, John called Fitzgerald “soft” for his deadline moves.
The truth is that I am disappointed. I feel like Tom Fitzgerald, Josh Harris, and David Blitzer have failed the fans for a second season in a row. With massive LTIR space, most playoff teams would have looked to make a big move, bolstering their roster with the hopes that they become a truly formidable contender once some players return from their injuries during the playoffs. The Devils, though, did not use all that cap space, whether by choice or circumstance. Fitzgerald will claim it’s circumstance — that “they came in second,” and that they tried and tried but just could not satisfy the other side. I reject that thinking — the Devils have had LTIR space for long enough to have made a big move without waiting for the last second, and getting that far only to say — oh golly gee, we just came up short — smells of poor preparation and lacking alternative planning.
But perhaps Daniel Sprong was the plan B that never would have came to fruition had Fitzgerald landed his scoring target. On the outside, we only know so much. I would just argue that, even if Fitzgerald made another move, there was still plenty of room to make the Dumoulin, Glass, and Sprong additions. I noted in those deadline threads that I thought Fitzgerald’s deadline roughly deserved a D-grade with room to improve, as I really do like those players — but we are still missing the big piece.
I will admit that, had the Devils lost yesterday afternoon, this article would have been much more negative. I imagine the Devils are about 18 points from securing a playoff spot, and they have just 17 games to go. If they had lost to Philadelphia, of all teams, our outlook for the rest of the season would have been close to disastrous. Given the start that the Devils had, it just seems like the team continually lets problems fester until they either derail the season or completely squash the playoff hopes of fans watching the team. I had said, in January, that “teams that stay away from the waiver wire do so at their own risk,” referring to Tom Fitzgerald’s decision to ignore both Sprong and Jesse Puljujarvi on waivers.
I believe there’s value to be had in acquiring a guy like Sprong, who had two straight 40-point seasons with fourth line minutes on Seattle and Detroit between 2022 and 2024. You might expect his defense to tank the team, but his lines outscored opponents 78 to 66 at even strength in those two years. At the very least, Sprong is someone who is at the level that the Devils wanted Alex Holtz to play at last season — someone who can find spots to score on the fourth line while chipping in PP2 production without posting unmanageable defensive numbers.
I bring this up because trading for Daniel Sprong is a worse version of an acquisition that could have been made 9 weeks ago. I was adamant about making an addition at that point, as I had already noted the need to take advantage of the weak January schedule, with them failing to do so by the time players like Sprong were on waivers. With Justin Dowling thrust into a third-line center role, the Devils probably left somewhere between 5 and 10 points on the board by the point in the season we are at right now by continuing to play guys like Dowling alongside struggling players like Curtis Lazar, while Erik Haula was out with an injury. But instead of making any cheap depth moves, Fitzgerald rolled with it for too long. At a certain point, patience becomes a flaw.
But, like I said, I do appreciate having Dumoulin, Sprong, and Glass on the team. I think they all provide something that has been missing either due to injuries or roster makeup, and I will be hoping for all three to play the best hockey of their lives en route to a playoff run. I admit that the Hughes injury sent me on a short “the season is over” spiral, but there are a lot of players who make the New Jersey Devils win games. With that in mind, the last time the Devils went to the playoffs without Jack Hughes was 2018. The only players remaining from that team are Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt.
I would then argue that we do not know what a lot of the guys on our team are really made of. Is Dawson Mercer someone we can trust to center a second line in the playoffs? Unless Cody Glass really goes off in the next couple weeks, I imagine we are going to find out in April. Is Luke Hughes ready to be the number one defenseman on this team as long as he wants to be? He’s going to play the most minutes for the rest of the season, and probably in all situations. Is Simon Nemec going to earn and carve an NHL role for himself at his age? With Dougie out of the lineup, he can make a real difference if he gets it together. Is Jacob Markstrom the stabilizing presence in goal that we brought him in to be? Are Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt going to lead the team on offense without Jack? And who after them is going to step up?
So, I am not going to say another word about Tom Fitzgerald in relation to the trade deadline in any of my Monday articles between now and the end of the season. We know what happened before — whatever happens now is up to the team. Now is not the time of despair, but it is a time of self-discovery for some of these players. Whoever can step up and make this a playoff to remember and not just a forgettable lost season can make themselves a legend to this fanbase. Anything else could mean some guys are playing their last games in Devils’ black and red.
Your Thoughts
Do you still have hope for this team? Who are you looking for contributions from? Who will rise, and who will fall? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.