Fitzgerald Named to USA Hockey's Management Group | FEATURE

On Friday, USA Hockey named Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald to its management group for the NHL’s 4 Nations Faceoff and the 2026 U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team. Former Devil Bill Guerin will serve as General Manager for both teams while Fitzgerald, Chris Drury and Bill Zito join as Assistant General Managers.

“It’s an honor, it’s a privilege to be a part of this and to be asked,” Fitzgerald shared. “To represent your country any way (is special) ... I’m really looking forward to working with the staff and building this team.”

“I think Bill Guerin put together a team that I think will challenge one another,” Fitzgerald also shared about the opportunity. “It’ll be collaborative but (we’ll) push each other to make the right decisions, proper decisions, and support each other. That’s really what it’s all about and to put the best team on the ice that represents our country to the fullest.”

This isn’t Fitzgerald’s first time representing his country as he’s played for Team USA on three occasions: the 1987 World Junior Championship, the 1989 Men’s World Championship and the 1991 Men’s World Championship.

“It’s such an honor, such a privilege to throw on the jersey,” Fitzgerald reflected. “It means the world to you. You’re one of a very low-percentage that can say they’ve put the jersey on to represent their country. Now on this side of it, it’s still a thrill.”

The 4 Nations Faceoff and 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be best-on-best tournaments and part of a commitment by the NHL and NHLPA to provide its players opportunities to represent their countries on the biggest international stages. The Devils have multiple players that could suit up for a variety of countries including, but not limited to, Jack and Luke Hughes for USA, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Jonas Siegenthaler for Switzerland, and Jesper Bratt for Sweden. Fitzgerald expects a high competition level from these events.

“It’s going to be high-end for sure, with the 4 Nations and obviously the Olympics,” Fitzgerald explained. “You look around, especially in the U.S. and how we’ve grown high-end talent, it’s just going to be incredible. There’s going to be some sad people, there’s going to be some happy people, but I think the most important thing is once we sit down as a group is building a team, not just a team of talent, but a team. There’s enough talent, character, work ethic, hard-nosed players throughout the league that we’ll be able to choose from.”