As per Kevin Weekes of Sirius XM and NHL Network, he received word that Tom Fitzgerald is now the full time GM of the New Jersey Devils. For many years since Ray Shero was hired by Lou Lamoriello, he brought along Tom Fitzgerald to work aside him more than five years ago. One of the many things I always recall from the past few seasons is that teams like Minnesota and the Carolina Hurricanes looked at Fitzgerald as a high-end candidate.
So, for those of you who wanted Tom Fitzgerald as your GM for a different team, adios to that pipe dream. His work from the past five seasons that led to Fitzgerald being named the GM is that he would sign the AHL players for the team in Albany, now the Binghamton Devils. He replenished the AHL cupboards with guys like Yegor Sharangovich, Mikhail Maltsev and Nathan Bastian via the draft with at the time, Ray Shero. He also worked with Paul Castron (VP, Amateur Scouting) along with Gates Orlando (Director of Amateur Scouting), both of whom oversee daily operations for Devils Amateur Scouting.
The head CHL scout for the Devils under their directory is Andy Schneider who was responsible for the Ty Smith pick from the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. Scott Lachance is still the Head US Scout and Jim Mill the head of College Scouting. Greg Royce is the Devils Director of European Scouting and Niklas Evertsson is Fitzgerald’s Head of European Scouting.
A lot of internal stability for the New Jersey Devils with Tom running the show is an extremely important cog that will help the team grow from the draft and upward. Tom has mentioned in the past he had to keep Ray Shero, his old boss, in check as the former assistant GM in New Jersey. Now it’s likely gonna be Dan MacKinnon, the Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager, who pushes and drives Tom to make the most rational decisions to build a middle-to-contending team to come.
With players like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Nikita Gusev, Kyle Palmieri, and Mackenzie Blackwood among other pieces on the team currently, this layout of youth and veteran forwards, along with P.K. Subban and Damon Severson on defence, allows new hire, Lindy Ruff, many options to build around two super solid centers, amazing shooters and a strong starting goaltender. What Lindy Ruff needs Fitzgerald to do is acquire a left-handed veteran defender that can move the puck and play the body. Another need is a backup goalie and I spoke with Alex Chauvancy of The Hockey Writers along with my co-host Jim Biringer and Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders is one that makes a lot of sense.
Sure, it would be nice to have Robin Lehner, but he seems to be a guy that might command a better playing environment for a contender. While Lindy Ruff is a different style of coach, he is a a more offensive-minded head coach. He did have a lot of influence on Coach Quinn of the New York Rangers where the rivals did improve their offensive strategy two of the past three seasons from forwards to defence playing together.
I do like Ruff more as a polished candidate than Hynes and Nasreddine. Lindy Ruff seems to be the coach who could progress the Devils more towards the middle of the pack to wild card type progression. He did post a record of 50-23-9 in Dallas during the 2015-2016 season, guiding a highly potent offence anchored with Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and John Klingberg as the four-headed monsters on his offence. That was a quartet that yielded an impressive total of 283 points.
To give people some context, Ruff is the kind of guy who can bring more leadership with his wealth of experience. He is a former Jack Adams Award winner, receiving the honour back in 2006. From both a contributor perspective and fan perspective, I see Lindy making this team one that’s better managed.
Ruff can teach young players on this team how to become very competitive players and reach that untapped potential. I believe each move that’s made will only help the Devils franchise progress forward. For the next few seasons, I want to see the team succeed under coach Lindy Ruff and the guidance of GM Tom Fitzgerald. I believe in Fitzgerald’s decision making, especially given the past five years.