PODCAST: Hear from the New Blood

New Jersey Devils Official Podcast
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Free Agency | Speak of the Devils
A lot has happened over the last week for the New Jersey Devils. General Manager Tom Fitzgerald was kept busy reshaping the franchise, checking off boxes and creating internal competition. Those boxes included adding a goaltender, winger and defenseman all within the first 36 hours of free agency.
It started with a trade on the night of October 8th, when the Devils acquired defenseman Ryan Murray from Columbus, then a free agent signing of goaltender Corey Crawford on the opening day of free agency, followed by the acquisition of winger Andreas Johnsson from Toronto the next day. All three players, along with Fitzgerald are guests on this week's Speak of the Devils Podcast.
The night-before-free-agency the trade for Murray came on Fitzgerald's radar.

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"As luck would have, it got a text from the general manager [Jarmo Kekalainen] and he asked 'would you be interested in Ryan Murray', I called him and we talked about it, Jarmo and I and it just made too much sense not to do that and kind of check the box, another box of finding a defenseman on the left side that can plan on top four," Fitzgerald shared on the podcast.
Checking that box early, before the 12pm opening of free agency the next gave Fitzgerald 'breathing room' as he called it. Focus on other boxes, that of a goaltender and a winger were zeroed in on, as Fitzgerald went to work with his team. Part of that team is arguably the best recruiter when it comes to finding a goalie on the free-agent market. That would be Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur who now works in the Devils Hockey Operations department as Executive Vice President, Advisor to Hockey Operations.
Brodeur picked up the phone just after noon on October 9th and made a call to Gilles Lupien. Lupien represents Corey Crawford, and just so happened to be Brodeur's agent when he was younger. Gaging the interest, Brodeur then spoke next to Crawford.
"That was a big surprise," Crawford told the podcast, "Obviously, I'm from Montreal, Marty was a pretty big idol of mine growing up, you know, I watched him and [New Jersey] when they were winning Cups. So, to talk to him on the phone was pretty cool. It's pretty special. And, you know, it definitely, definitely persuaded me to think about Jersey and what they can offer."
Crawford signed on the dotted line on a two-year, $7.8 million contract.
"Marty Brodeur played a huge part in in securing the idea of Corey coming," Fitzgerald added. "So, I thank Marty for that. But we felt like right away when we went to him said, 'Well, if we can get this done, we really, really checked a box that we set out to do.'"
Next came securing a winger. Fitzgerald found him in a player he had had his eyes on. From Toronto, Fitzgerald swapped Joey Anderson for left-winger Andreas Johnsson. For the 25-year-old Swede, the news did not entirely come as a shock, aware of the cap-crunch the Leafs are facing.
"You know, it's been a lot of rumors and stuff," he told the Speak of the Devils podcast from his home in Sweden. "And I mean, so I just had it in mind and just had to prepare a little bit. I mean, you can't go around and think you're gonna get traded for sure. But, you know, I had it in my mind it would be a chance."
As it happens, so did Fitzgerald. The acquisitions of Murray and Johnsson are two players that he's had his eye on the periphery.
"These players, Johnsson and Murray are players that we've talked to their teams about," shared Fitzgerald, "you know, Ryan Murray was a guy we talked about last year trading for, actually this past year. And Johnsson, we've always been, I've always been in touch with [Toronto GM] Kyle Dubas, even going back to when he was going to move Kapanen or potentially move Johnsson So, having your foot in the door is important. They went out, made a signing on the back end, Toronto did, and I figured I would hear from Kyle. And lo and behold, my phone rang."
Now with several boxes ticked off, Fitzgerald will look to do some more fine tuning if the opportunity presents itself. But more so than ticking off those boxes, the additions of Crawford, Murray and Johnsson, as well as depth goaltender Scott Wedgewood, Fitzgerald has done something even more important for everyone on his roster wanting to reach success.
"We've got some new blood, we've got creative competition, we plug some holes. And we'll continue to look, you know what the market dictates and stay patient."
For more from Fitzgerald, Crawford, Murray and Johnsson tune in to the Speak of the Devils Podcast and hear from all four!