What was Tom Fitzgerald’s fatal flaw as Devils GM?

The New Jersey Devils are bound for a new course with a new general manager, but what went wrong with the previous leader of hockey operations?

On Monday, it was announced that Tom Fitzgerald was departing the team as its general manager after over six years on the job. There were some exciting highs but an elongated list of lows during his tenure with the organization. Despite star players such as Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and others providing excitement for the surging franchise, personnel mistakes have led to the Devils missing the postseason in four of their six full seasons at the helm.

On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss what Fitzgerald did that ended up hurting their chances of being a top team in the Eastern Conference.

Tyler Yaremchuk: He walked into a team that had Hughes and Heischer and a whole bunch of other young players and he took some swings. It just never quite seemed to mesh. So, I’ll ask you the same question that we’ve asked when it comes to guys like Treliving and Trotz who are also GMs who’ve been fired in the last little bit. When you look back at his tenure, what was Fitzgerald’s fatal flaw?

Carter Hutton: I guess I think of this team, and you think about the way that the style that they played. This is a very offensive, creative team that I had a chance to play against. You think about how they would buzz in the offensive zone and create. Then it came to the fact that like, was it their goaltending, right? You think back to the Nico Daws and Akira Schmid and it’s just not really working out. Then the fact that they go out and they get Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen, who were just a little long in the tooth. I think the extension to Markstrom is concerning, at his age and what he brings to the table.

Then, the fact that I think you started to tinker a little too much with what you had. Yes, the East was being won by the Florida Panthers. And yes, they were powering through you and everything that they brought to the table. You can’t paint stripes on yourself and call yourself a tiger. This team wasn’t built to play this way. I think they tried to manipulate that a little too much. It ended up costing them because they’re built for speed and creativity in the offensive zone. I think it’s something they need to get back to.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…