I was at the game today in Section 21. I was hoping to somehow meet you guys at AW or inside Prudential Center. That bogus first penalty killed the Devils. The Canes clobbered Daws in the crease and the refs did nothing. These refs seem to have it out for the Devils. It is killing the Devils to give up the first goal. Jack had quite a few shots hit the post. Fitzgerald waited too long to fix the Devils problems this season. It is tragic and frustrating. I would like to see Green bench Hughes and/or Nemec for a while and have Santeri Hattaka on the roster. My worry is that Fitzgerald will trade Holtz and/or Mercer in a deal...for what...a useless subpar goalie? Holtz seems to be the whipping boy this season. The Holtz thing this year is strange. What is their issue with Holtz? Is Holtz puck management poor? I also fear that as we get into the spring and summer that Fitzgerald will claim "we tested the market for a 1A goalie, but there was nothing available or we could not work out a deal, etc." And then we go into next season with the same mess. I will not trust anything Fitz says until he takes concrete action on the defense/goalie situation. I understand it will cost the Devils. I am on the side of skeptical about Markstrom given his age. How do you guys feel about Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman ?
This isn’t just Toffoli, for a 2nd, and a 3rd. This is Toffoli, AND Sharangovich for a 2nd, and a 3rd. How does this trade sound now? Our most pressing need, in goal and the *best* you can do, are two guys *slightly* better than what we have now. I’ve been saying, that Fitzgerald has had the benefit of having top-tier talent from the draft. He had a large number of high-end picks, and it bolstered his image as a GM. The deals that *truly* matter, have been fumbled - BADLY. If I was uncomfortable with the Vanacek/Schmid pairing, going into the season, how was TF SO confident? We had an amazing season, but did I believe that either goaltender would carry us through the playoffs? NOPE. You bring in a *reliable* and *proven* goaltender, JUST IN CASE. He failed to do that, and we were sunk. He has been/is doing long-term damage to this team. The interview with Amanda Stein yesterday, was flat-out infuriating to me, and I’m sure most everyone else. He stated “I think we got a little bit too comfort with a 112 point season..” Once again, laying blame on the players, when he can point to the actual CATALYST for failure: Tom Fitzgerald. There’s a very good argument to be made, that Lindy Ruff was a *victim* of Fitzgerald’s “patience.” We have Ray Shero 2.0….
Fitz was worst GM in the league this year. I said the Sharangovich trade was awful when everyone else was thrilled about it. I didn’t understand with our style of play, why we would send out a penalty killing, fast skater, sniper in our preferred age range for a slow, streaky, non defensive winger with 1 year and wrong side of 30… BONEHEAD move and I’m so upset that I was right. Sharangovich is going to be a great player in this league for a long time and be on very good deals. He’s the perfect Swiss Army Knife player. Once that move was made, it was the beginning of the end. In November it was obvious we needed a new goalie and a new coach. Somehow it took until March…?!?!? What the f*** was Fitz doing all season?!?!?
I was talking with another Devils fan who predicted that Matt Rempe would duck and run away scared from Kurtis MacDermid. Refs should have let MacDermid go at him. Rempe is dirty goon and a coward. I am happy and proud that Devils are not backing down from the Canes or the Rangers. We are right there in these games if we had a real Power Play and if Fitzgerald would have fixed this glaring problems. The Devils crappy Power Play is beyond missing Dougie Hamilton. This fault is on Fitzgerald. They also have to get Luke and Jack off of the same line. And the coaches have to have the balls to make Luke Hughes a healthy scratch and replace him with Santeri Hattaka for at least a while.
The kuhk trade was his only good one in my opinion. Salary dump. Allen may be marginal better but if he doesn't get a goalie over the summer...a REAL.GOALIE. I see him getting fired. Ullmark or Saros. I don't want Markstrom. Sorry but 35 year old over priced. If he's going to wait until summer, he better be buying our goalie of the future. Watching Miller go for a mid pick in 2026 was a joke too
I still dont understand why we took on some of Tanevs salary......Was Fitz bitten by a tick and develop lyme disease? He's making these bonehead moves. Also retaining everyone's salary is just offensive.
