Fitzgerald on his Busy Week and What's Ahead for Devils | FEATURE

Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has been very busy that past two weeks. He's signed two core players to eight-year contracts (Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt), re-signed veteran forward Erik Haula and acquired forward Tyler Toffoli in a trade. Not to mention hiring Travis Green to join the club's coaching staff as an associate coach.

Whew.

Fitzgerald took a moment to exhale and join the media Wednesday afternoon and touched several items of note.

Tyler Toff
Fitzgerald traded defenseman Damon Severson to Columbus for a third-round pick. He then flipped that pick (along with forward Yegor Sharangovich) to Calgary for Tyler Toffoli.

The veteran will add some physicality, toughness, goal scoring and Stanley Cup-winning experience (Los Angeles Kings, 2014).

"Look at his resume. He's a Stanley Cup champion," Fitzgerald said. "He's a right shot. He had 34 goals last year. He had 73 points. We think even at 31 years old that Tyler Toffoli has a lot more to give and offer. His experience of winning. You just can't teach that or learn that. You need people to help you understand what it's like to go four rounds in the playoffs. We just went two. That was hard. Our goal is to win a Stanley Cup. Adding players with championship pedigree can help our young players understand what it's like to win."

To Goalie or Not to Goalie
The Devils traded goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to San Jose in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick.

Fitzgerald and his hockey operations staff are now weighing the idea of adding another goaltender to the fold via free agency, trade or the draft.

"It's the magical question. What do you do?" Fitzgerald said. "I'm still trying to improve our team. Vitek (Vanecek) had 30-plus wins last year. He was fantastic for us. He did everything we felt he could do for us. (Akira) Schmid has grown. Three years ago he was in the USHL."

Both tenders helped the Devils finish third overall in the NHL standings and a second round appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team also has Nico Daws, who played the entire season in Utica of the American Hockey League.

"Goaltending is a discussion we have daily on which way we'll go," Fitzgerald said. "I don't have any answers other than we love Vitek, we love Scmid, we love Daws. We'll cross that bridge if it comes."

To Sign or Not to Sign
The Devils have several pending restricted free agents (RFA) and unrestricted free agents (UFA). Fitzgerald noted that the club will not pursue their UFAs (forwards Tomas Tatar and Miles Wood and defenseman Ryan Graves). The team will focus on its RFAs (forwards Nathan Bastian, Michael McLeod and Jesper Boqvist and defenseman Kevin Bahl).

The team still has to sign head coach Lindy Ruff as well.

"That's another thing on my plate that I have to get off," Fitzgerald said. "I need some more communication with ownership but Lindy knows this is his home."

The Ruff Stuff
Ruff was the runner-up for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year.

"I had someone tell me last night that maybe the best move I made in this organization was hiring Lindy Ruff," Fitzgerald said. "Because he bought into everything I was selling him on. Development. Development. Development. With our young players, allow them to grow, allow them to make mistakes, don't be frustrated, this is the process we're in. we'll reap the benefits for it. You look at Jack (Hughes), Nico (Hischier), Bratt, Luke (Hughes) in a small period. We're Dougie (Hamilton's) game went to this year. Lindy takes all the credit, but he'll pass it on and deflect it to his staff. He was rewarded for that this year."

Green New Deal
The Devils added Green to the coaching staff, replacing Andrew Brunette who was named head coach of the Nashville Predators. Green, the former head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, and Fitzgerald have a long history from their playing days.

"Travis and I go way back," Fitzgerald said. "We were Islanders draft picks. We played together on the Island. We reconnected in Toronto and reconnected my last year in Boston. He's a good person. He comes from a great family. I know his family well. I know the passion that he has for the game of hockey. He's really grown as a person from when I played with him."

Green has served as a head coach for the past 10 years (Portland, WHL; Utica, AHL, Vancouver, NHL), including four-plus with the Canucks. Green has only served as an assistant coach for a season and a half in Portland.

"He showed in Vancouver what kind of head coach he can be," Fitzgerald said. "What he wanted to do now was take the next step and learn from somebody like Lindy Ruff, with the abundance of experience that he has to offer Travis to continue to grow and develop. What I like is his growth mindset. He wants to continue to grow. He's nowhere near where he thinks he can be as the best coach possible. We're very fortunate to have Travis. He can relate to players. He understands being a head coach. I think we're very lucky and very fortunate that Travis chose us."

Odds and Ends
Fitzgerald on not having a first-round pick: "This is what good teams go through. They sit on Day 1 of the draft and watch everything going on around them because they've given up these assets to get better. We did that with Timo this year. It's actually fun."

Fitzgerald on building out his forwards: "We want to be the best top-9 team in the league and (have) a fourth line that can play against any other top line to help offset matchups. That's the goal here. You look at the championship (teams), they have depth, they have scoring, really good special teams, very discipline, they're very committed. And that's the culture we're building here in New Jersey."