The New Jersey Devils finally ended their four-game skid on Wednesday. However, fans have been calling for Tom Fitzgerald’s job, as a result of an underwhelming season. Yet, what does a former NHL executive think of his body of work as Devils GM?
Former Florida Panthers assistant GM Steve Werier joined the latest Devils Rink Report and offered a measured, positive assessment of Tom Fitzgerald’s tenure as New Jersey’s general manager.
“I can’t speak to what other people think about him. I think different people have different views of everyone,” Werier began. “Tom, I think as a person, is very well liked, and exceptionally well-connected. He’s one of those guys—if you do like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you get two degrees of Tom Fitzgerald, and he probably can get to everyone past, present, and future in the game.”
That network, Werier noted, is a real asset. It’s what has netted him previous key players such as Timo Meier and Jacob Markstrom.
“Which is a good attribute, honestly, to be running an NHL team, to be able to have those relationships ingrained, and be able to pick up the phone and sort of get anyone to answer.”
In Werier’s perspective, the on-ice results have followed in the grand scheme of things.
“The Devils have been relatively successful in the last few years, right? Sort of perennially a playoff team, a team that most would have thought could contend most years.”
Werier also praised Fitzgerald’s staffing choices.
“If you’re looking at whom a person surrounds themselves with, which I think is a good barometer for an executive in anything, whether it’s business or hockey… Tom surrounded himself with pretty smart folks, you know, on the cap side, and he’s had Matt Cane with him for a number of years. And I think Matt and Tyler Dellow, who’s now with Carolina, were both with Tom in New Jersey for a while, and those are sharp guys who have done well.”
This season’s struggles, Werier argued, need context. Jack Hughes‘ injury, plus the plethora of others, is a factor.
“It’s a strange year. You got a lot of teams who are in surprising spots, good or bad, and we’ll see how it shakes out… People love to say no excuses, but when you know your franchise player misses 20, 30, 40 games and then has to come back and recover…”
He drew from his own experience.
“In 2016, we had Jonathan Huberdeau tore his Achilles in a preseason game against the Devils while I was sitting with Fitzgerald and Ray Shero. And then Sasha Barkov missed 50 games on top of that, and we sort of had to throw our hands up in the air.”
With Hughes now back from injury, Werier sees reason for optimism.
“The Devils are a deep team, and Jack Hughes is back… So we’ll see how they do with a healthy roster.”
The four-game lull was perhaps bigger than Hughes. We’ll see what the Devils do now that they’ve shown a small sign of life. If things go south from here, perhaps it’s a personnel issue. That’s on the guy who built the team.
But, for now, his final verdict:
“I’d say most people would say Fitzgerald has done a fairly decent job over the years relative to others.”
Werier’s take: Fitzgerald’s relationships, staff, and track record earn him solid marks—with health, not construction, the biggest variable moving forward.
