Takeaways From Tom Fitzgerald & Sheldon Keefe's End-of-Season Press Conference
Sheldon Keefe & Tom Fitzgerald didn't have anything too earth-shattering to say, but there were a few notable takeaways
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General manager Tom Fitzgerald and head coach Sheldon Keefe gave their end-of-season press conferences to the media yesterday. There wasn't anything too earth-shattering, but there were a couple of notable takeaways about what they thought of the New Jersey Devils' 2024-25 season.
From the sounds of it, Fitzgerald knows depth scoring was an issue this season. He also gave injury updates, while Keefe has a big project to dig into this summer. Here are some highlights from what they had to say.
Devils' Scoring Depth Was a Problem
I've talked about it plenty here or on the DOTR podcast, but we all know depth scoring was an issue this season. Per Fitzgerald (and Keefe), they seem to know it was a problem this season, too.
Fitzgerald specifically mentioned players who have given them depth scoring in the past did not do so this season. It's probably not hard to guess who he may be referring to, but Dawson Mercer, Ondřej Palát and Erik Haula are the prime suspects.
Fitzgerald even mentioned that he talked to his AGMs and analytics group about what depth scoring should look like in today's NHL. Because of that, don't expect the same roster to return next season:
"We won't be coming back with the same group. Because it was just not good enough.
"I like our group, my job is to continue to better the group. And we've got a lot of decisions to make on certain players, bringing guys back, trade players..."
We'll see what the next few weeks bring once the offseason ramps up, but I have to imagine players under contract will be among those who get moved this offseason. I also wouldn't expect UFAs like Nathan Bastian and Tomáš Tatar to return. There's likely plenty of turnover coming this summer, but it should be for the best.
What Happened After Christmas?
Keefe said one of his big projects this summer will be to dig down and find out what happened to the team after Christmas.
Injuries in the final five to six weeks of the regular season were a factor. But even when the Devils were dominating teams in the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, they weren't scoring many goals.
They held teams to 10-15 shots on goal a game and won 2-1, 3-2, etc. You can't find sustained success playing that way in today's NHL with goal-scoring being what it is. Perhaps that means Keefe will have to open it up a bit next season, especially if the goal is to improve depth scoring this offseason.
Gritsyuk Will Be a Bonus
Arseniy Gritsyuk's long-awaited arrival is here. Fitzgerald spoke about Gritsyuk and what he could bring to the team next season. Long story short, he sees him as a potential bonus for the top nine.
Hint, hint, but that likely means Fitzgerald and his front office plan on adding more help to the top nine. In addition to Gritsyuk, the Devils could use at least one more middle-six/top-six winger (probably two, if we're being honest) and a third-line center.
The Devils are tight on cap space, and haven't even signed Luke Hughes to an extension yet. We'll see what changes are coming, but it sure sounds like they plan to give their core players more scoring help.
Injury Updates
There was a laundry list of injury updates yesterday, so let's review them. Jesper Bratt had shoulder surgery for an issue he's played through for the last couple of seasons. It's the same type of injury that Timo Meier had surgery for last summer, so there shouldn't be any long-term concern. Bratt will likely be ready to go for training camp.
Luke Hughes also had successful shoulder surgery for an injury similar to Bratt's. Like Bratt, there's no long-term concern for Hughes, and he should be ready to go for training camp.
Brenden Dillon will need surgery for the neck injury he suffered in Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Fitzgerald said Dillon is still in the process of gathering all the information he needs, but the expectation is he'll be ready for camp, too.
Lastly, Johnathan Kovacevic had successful knee surgery yesterday morning. Unfortunately, unlike his counterparts, he will not be ready for the start of training camp in September. Given the timeline, I'm assuming he must have had surgery to repair a torn ligament.
That opens the door for Šimon Nemec, who also played through a shoulder injury this season, to have a role in the NHL to begin 2025-26.
Devils May Try and Re-Sign Jake Allen?
Fitzgerald was asked about the possibility of re-signing Jake Allen to an extension. Allen was excellent this season, saving 18.4 goals above expected, ranking ninth among all qualified goaltenders. He saved the team's season when Jacob Markström missed time with an MCL sprain.
While as great as Allen was, I'm not sure I see the Devils re-signing him, no matter how much Fitzgerald liked him. One) Allen is easily the best UFA goalie in a very weak crop of UFA goalies. Someone (probably the Edmonton Oilers) will overpay for him.
Two) The Devils have other, more pressing needs, likely leaving them without the necessary money to bring Allen back. Nico Daws also becomes waivers-eligible next season, so that's another issue to consider.
I worry about running a Markström and Daws tandem next season, but the Devils will probably have to look for a cheaper option than Allen if they want a more seasoned backup for Markström.
Offer Sheets
Finally, Fitzgerald was asked about offer sheets and whether he thinks we'll see more this summer. The short answer is yes, he does. He obviously couldn't talk about specific players because that would be tampering, but the Devils are in a position to offer sheet a pending RFA.
The Devils have all of their own draft picks in the 2026 draft, which you must have to sign an RFA to an offer sheet. They're in win-now mode and want to better the roster. Those are the teams that should consider offer sheets, especially since this year's UFA class does not look particularly impressive.
We'll see what July 1 brings, but it wouldn't shock me if the Devils are a team that tries to sign someone to an offer sheet.
Am assuming a fun "Who can the Devils Offer Sheet" article coming up soon :)
I feel like that Fitzgerald's quote about talking to his analytics department to learn about what depth scoring should look like in today's NHL tells us everything we need to know about why we get trounced by Carolina every year we even make the playoffs.
Their GM (Tulsky) broke into the industry with "Quantitative Analysis of Hockey Using Spatiotemporal Tracking Data" as his thesis paper.
Let's hope Fitz is a fast learner, but I'm not hopeful.