New Jersey Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald met with the media last week to discuss the season and talk about the team moving forward. Many areas were discussed. I give my thoughts on several of these topics.
In this video I also talk about my expectations for Arseni Gritsyuk and Lenni Hameenaho for next season.
I discuss all of this and MUCH more in this video.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Subscribe for more Devils content to come!:
https://www.youtube.com/@runninwiththedevils?sub_confirmation=1
Follow us on Spotify:
Follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/runninwiththenjdevils/
Follow us on X:
https://x.com/runninwithnjd
Follow us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/people/Runnin-With-The-Devils/61560358358234/
Shop Fanatics:
https://fanatics.93n6tx.net/PyXnOq
Shop My Devils Favorites on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/runninwiththedevils
Cash App:
https://cash.app/$RunninWithTheDevils
Venmo:
https://venmo.com/u/RunninWithTheDevils
#newjerseydevils #njdevils #devils #arseniygritsyuk #gritsyuk #lennihameenaho #hameenaho #nicohischier #timomeier #jacobmarkstrom #jesperbratt #lukehughes #hischier #markstrom #bratt #hughes #meier #nhl #hockey #njdevilspodcast #newjerseydevilspodcast #runninwiththedevils #njdevilsnews #njdevilsupdates
37 Comments
Good to see you back, Ace. Yeah I agree…we do need some more grit..hopefully we can get Bennet in the offseason. Did you see his goal last night? Reminded me of Michael McLeods goal in game 7 against the rags 2 years ago. We need that. McLeod brought some tenacity to our team. It's a shame things happened the way they did. And trading Henrique when we did was stupid on our end, because look at him now…he scored 2 goals last night..and the Oilers are one game away from going to the WCF.
Rutherford will probably ask for Nemec + Silayev + Mercer + Bratt + first rounder for Quinn. I hope Fitz wont be that stupid … Just wait 2 yrs or send them Casey + Mercer.
Enough with the injuries. The Hughes bros need to hit the gym and bulk up. If your average shmo can hit the weight room and get serious, so can they.
I tried to embrace part of this season when the team was completely healthy. It was for a decent amount of time. But… they still were just average team. THAT is what scares me most.
The devils played the canes harder than the caps and we had so many players injured.
Thank you for sitting down with us….. looks like you lost a few pounds, take care of yourself. thanks again
Markstrom retires when he stops breaking sticks. I love when he does it after a loss because it proves he still has the fire lit inside him to play. The guy wants to win and that’s the mentality the Devils need going forward. Play pissed off, play hard and don’t forget how much the past two seasons sucked. I’d rather see Allen go and get Daws in the backup role for a season. Devils need to get the younger goalies some game time in order to have them ready for Markstrom’s retirement and Yegorov’s arrival.
Fitz basically told everyone he sucks and needs another offseason to try and fix his f ups. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Time has been flying for me. I’m ready to get the summer months over and get back to Devils hockey.
Sucks Kovacevic is out, not much to say about that.
I agree with pretty much everything you said, amigo.
We knew going into the season the Fitz under-performed in acquiring offensive pieces. His primary focus was goal tending and D.. He deserved high marks for both, but everyone understood we were tossing pennies into fountains and wishing that Tatar could rekindle some scoring magic…which he couldn't. (Imagine where we might be if Noesen and Cotter had just career average years.) The scoring is NOW the thing that needs to be addressed. Hopefully, we can have the team we deserve to start training camp
I don't like making injuries an excuse and had my fair share of Fitz hating, but this year was just beyond unlucky. Then you hear how he wanted Ryan o'Reilly and Nashville wanted Nemo, Mercer and a 1st. That's a lot for someone in their mid 30s.
Ace, thanks again for constantly providing QUALITY Devils content. Do you know if Gritz or Hameenaho can play left Wing? They are both listed as Rw and with the brass finally figuring out Timo is a right winger, that starts to jam up that side if the ice. Looking forward to seeing the young kids and what improvements they have made. Let's Go Devils
We have a decent bottom 6, the problem is that they're playing in the Top 6 because Fitz never went after any finishers.. if he signed a guy like Ehlers or Donato that would bump everybody down and make the bottom six look a lot better with guys like Mercer, Palat and Noesen down there
Should still have Lindy, Yegor, Zetterlund, etc. Fitz F'd this team up. Take a young core and let it ride, be patient! Maple Leafs going deep makes Keefe look bad.
There's a difference between taking care of injuries and having absence of jobs. I was born to coach NHL players.
Next years T-shirt and toques should read…
“Jack’s got that man body” Tom Fitzgerald.
lol 😂
Great work as usual Ace!
I mean I agree Fitz dropped the ball by doing so little mid season, but I'm more so irritated he didn't do something right after Christmas to either reward the team for the great start, or stop the bleeding after the Christmas break, before February. I know shit happens for a reason but I believe Jack could've avoided that injury against Vegas if we weren't in a dog fight for every point we could get at the time. With that said, once Jack went down with injury the season was over…barring Dougie missing the rest of the reg season and his 9mil freeing up, we could've shopped hard, but for what? A major headache over the summer, when even if we shopped big, a Cup was still very very unlikely? Or Barring we landed Rantanen (we all know Carolina would've never traded him to us, despite us having a better package available than Dallas) but he landed where he did, & that was the nail in the coffin for this season. If we had bolstered the roster more, we could've beat Carolina & probably Washington. I don't see any world where we make it to the Finals without Jack & a semi healthy team.
Yo brother, just wanted to say, miss you too Ace, I'm bummed just like you my friend..you're right, October seems like a lifetime away..I'm so looking forward to next year..but keep your spirits high brother, I truly believe our time is upon us..I am so rooting for The Panthers to go to the Eastern Conference Finals and destroy those f'n Canes, I absolutely hate that team as well..would love to see a rematch of last year's finals..I guess we'll see buddy..hopefully Fitz will do the right moves and we can enjoy watching our Devils hoist another Cup..be well Ace, I'll be looking out for your vids my brother..much love to you and yours..LET'S GO DEVILS!!! ✌️🔥🔥🔥😈🇺🇸
I can’t agree with you enough in every aspect you pointed out!!! so many things still baffled what happened to us Christmas break? I’m watching this Cane’s capital series drives me nuts where they made the trade and we did nothing. They end up winning that just goes to show where and when to win. Hang in there!!! And just curious, are you paying attention to how our boys are doing in the worlds?
Hischier & Bratt also only played in the playoffs 3 times.
I disagree with making moves this season…. the Devils were absolute dog shit since mid-December (even with Jack). We would have had to replace a minimum of 4-5 players that were going to be game changers. We didn't have the cap or assets to do that. I think a lot needs to happen this off season for sure though.
Happy Birthday Jack !! Thank you!!!
Look at the cap space. Luke and Glass will take up almost all of it. Will still need top one or two top 6 and two to four bottom 6 with one of them being a 3C. July first they can trade Hamilton Palat and Haula. Hamilton can bring pieces back. Will cost to move palat. Haula probably stays, if he’s traded probably swapped for an equal player or worse. Also the defense will not be healthy to start the season. So may need help there. Also could use a veteran 3G incase daws falters.Boozeface has his work cut out for himself! BTW, His dumbass comments never help!
Glad to see you back. Last video it looked like you were suffering from withdrawals. At least I know that we don’t have to do a wellness check on you. Enjoy the summer 😎& hockey season will be here before you know it.
I don’t think there’s a problem with the bottom 6 the problem is our bottom 6 players are playing top line minutes and that’s a problem, I love cotter noesen Mercer but that’s a 3rd line not a second, none of those guys should be with our top line
Gonna be a big off season! As for in season moves, Jack going down was massive. That completely changed absolutely everything. Hard to go in and add a top 6 player when your best player is out for the season. We could have send a ton of assets for the best player available, Mikko, and we still would have had a major uphill battle vs the Canes.
Kia Ora, Ace. Greetings from New Zealand 🇳🇿. My wife and I are enjoying your channel. Thanks for the info. Let's go Devils 😈
Never apologize for longer videos! Love to be able to roll these while in the car, etc. 🙌🏼 #LGD
I think we are spinning our wheels with the GM. He had the team in 2022-23 to build off of. The team went from fast, young and tenacious to old, slow and overpaid.
move Mac dermid to the 4th line, buy out Haula,Palat, Tatar. give Mercer 2 years if he dont improve trade the same with Glass ,Foote give them 2 years, sign 2 scoring wingers. the 3rd linemove some of free agents glass ,foote some one else who ever the team wants
Guys Hischier just got injured in the worlds in the first period against Germany. He left the game. Hard to tell what really happened. I don't think it's toooo bad but man oh man let's hope it won't affect the upcoming season in any way…
Steve Dangle went epic on Wednesday night and lost his sh*t. 😂😂 wow, what and ending to the Edmonton v. Vegas series!.
Dallas v. Edmonton series is going to be lit !
A lot of good points that I am in total agreement with…however, everyone wants players with skilled grit. I have said it before, the player needed was Tom Wilson and I would have offered him a number that he couldn't refuse when he was going into UFA. Maybe getting a Brady Tkachuk here is something that needs to happen sooner than later at whatever ridiculous cost it would be. Trading for or getting top tier Skgrit (trademark pending) is really, really hard. The core of this team just doesn't represent any these qualities. Adding another Hughes brother only further moves the team toward more speed and skill. Don't get me wrong Quinn is a monster, but not the total answer for deficiencies of this roster. Without Fitz really having a bunch of aggressive offseason moves, I am afraid like you are, that this will simply be the same story next Spring. We all know the players and the salaries that have to get moved to make the needed roster changes, yes it will be hard, but that is why Fitz has the job and not us. I wager that the continuity of his paycheck will depend upon doing exactly that.
Would you support the idea of the Devils signing Marner, Ace?
I think calling it a wasted season is a little harsh, I'm disappointed with how it ended but I think any season you make the playoffs can't be a waste really, especially for the spot the Devils are in in their development as a core. For me, injuries aren't an excuse for the organization as a whole, but I do grade the players themselves on a curve for that. It came out that basically everyone was playing hurt and they still made it a tough series for Carolina. I'm really encouraged by this season tbh, I think this Devils team showed us a lot of fight. Still not happy about Fitz's trade deadline, sure the prices were crazy but Taylor Hall and Fabian Zetterlund moved for one 2nd round pick each. He gave up a 7th for Sprong and then admitted he was on waivers when they considered grabbing him. But he is already making moves, Devils Insiders reported that he's hired Greg Ackerman from the Mariners in the MLB specifically for injury prevention so hopefully that helps. Fitz has to knock it out of the park in the offseason though.
Anyway thanks to denial and vivid hallucinations I'm getting ready to watch the Devils in the ECF vs the Florida Panthers, LETS GO DEVILS!
Couple of things…1) I find it really strange that a GM (Rutherford) would talk about how his star player doesn’t want to play for his team anymore. Is Quinn not a good locker room guy? Im just spit balling here becasue the whole thing is beyond strange. 2)If the Devils were comfortable about their goalie future they would have Dawes be number 2 next year. 3) I thought some of Fitz’s answers did not sound like a confident GM at all and it looked like Keefe wanted to punch him lol. Keep up the great work Ace!
Like the New Jersey devils Staley cup bud ice neon bar light that is cool
With the injuries plus rarely playing a 60 minute game how can you not put any blame on the training staff and coaches? This has been going on for years.