NEWARK, N.J. — Tom Fitzgerald admitted Tuesday that the New Jersey Devils face a “dilemma” when it comes to Tyler Toffoli ahead of the NHL trade deadline later this week.
“I’m not shopping Tyler Toffoli,” the Devils general manager said about the pending unrestricted free agent forward. “Tyler knows how much I want to bring him back. Unfortunately, right now, there’s a possible term difference (in contract negotiations). That doesn’t mean we can’t revisit this past the deadline if he’s still here, or in the offseason.
“But the reality is teams have called on him … and those future assets could help us down the road.”
The Devils have 21 games remaining, two before the trade deadline Friday at 3 p.m. ET. They are 30-27-4, sixth in the Metropolitan Division and eight points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings for the two wild cards into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
So disappointing has their season been, that the Devils fired coach Lindy Ruff on Monday.
Interim coach Travis Green will be behind the bench for a game here Tuesday against the Florida Panthers and Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.
“I’ll know more in the next three days where we’re at,” Fitzgerald explained. “I have to look at those percentages and the reality of where we are at.”
Toffoli leads the Devils with 26 goals, a year after he scored 34 for the Calgary Flames. The 31-year-old forward is a seven-time 20-goal scorer in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup in 2014 with the Los Angeles Kings.
That’s exactly the kind of player who could bring back a haul in a trade to a Cup contender ahead of the deadline.
But it’s not so simple for the Devils.
“Messaging, as well, to the rest of the team (is important),” Fitzgerald stated. “Trading your leading scorer, you’re throwing in the towel, right?”
So, one one hand, the Devils have a player they’d like to extend and retain for now and the future. They also can envision making a playoff push down the stretch following the coaching change
“You can get on a run,” the GM said. “No one knows what type of run you can get on.”
Then on the other hand, trading Toffoli could bring a healthy return that would benefit a talented, yet underachieving, team moving forward. And there’s no guarantee Toffoli won’t test free agency.
Related: 5 NHL GMs under most pressure ahead of trade deadline
Devils also ‘in market’ for goalie before deadline
The Devils also must make a decision about trading for a goalie before the deadline. They’ve been in serious talks with the Calgary Flames about Jacob Markstrom, who has two seasons beyond this one remaining on his contract.
Markstrom could be a longer-term answer between the pipes for New Jersey, which has struggled mightily at the position this season. With Vitek Vanecek (currently injured), Akira Schmid (the starter Tuesday) and rookie Nico Daws splitting the duties this season, the Devils are allowing a whopping 3.49 goals against, tied for sixth most in the League.
“The reality is I am in the market (for a goalie),” Fitzgerald said. “Our goaltending has not been good enough. That’s on me to go out and try to upgrade that.”
As for Green’s take on New Jersey’s goaltending? The new coach kept it simple Tuesday.
“I’m no goalie guru. I like goalies who stop the pucks. I don’t like the goalies who don’t stop the pucks as much,” he said.
Fitzgerald added that New Jersey’s issues defensively are not solely because of poor goaltending. He cited a lack of “commitment and will” by the team to play a more stout defensive game as one of the reasons Ruff is no longer the coach.
“I believe we are a very good offensive team … but the teams that win championships, you have to defend well,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s a commitment. That’s a will. It’s not a skill … I need to see different choices being made by our team.”
Speaking of choices, the Devils and their GM have quite a few ahead of them before the NHL trade deadline arrives Friday.