The Nashville Predators continue to look for their general manager replacement following the news of Barry Trotz's departure. With team management and executives under the chopping block near the end of the season, it opens up many doors for Nashville, who is desperately looking for change. However, a new name has entered the conversation, and it alone has the potential to open bridges.
The New Jersey Devils announced Monday that they'll be parting ways with their General Manager and President Tom Fitzgerald after just over half a decade of tenure. Fitzgerald made a lasting impact to the Devils in both good and bad ways. He united Jack Hughes to his younger brother Luke Hughes and drafted a few key players we see in their lineup today. However, his tenure is often overshadowed by his risky moves and ignorance of dying needs.
Despite all of this, Fitzgerald looks like one of the more promising candidates to take over the Preds general manager reigns from Trotz. To add onto the case, he was the franchise's first captain, taking the 'C' for the team's first four years in the league. Nashville loves to hire former alumni such as Trotz, Andrew Brunette and Pekka Rinne so this makes Fitzgerald hiring more likely.
Let's do a quick dive into the pros and cons of handing Fitzgerald the keys to Smashville.
The pros: Fitzgerald knows a thing or two about young talent
Arguably the biggest draft selection Fitzgerald made in his tenure with New Jersey was selecting defenseman Luke Hughes fourth overall in 2021. Since joining the Devils, the 22-year-old has scored 23 goals and tallied 105 assists in 222 games. While there were bigger names on the board, I believe he made the right selection, and it paid off.
He's known for going with his heart and overall team fit rather than selecting the best player available. Players like Dylan Guenther and William Eklund were still on the board, but Fitzgerald decided a defenseman was what New Jersey needed.
On the Nashville Predators, the real need is defense. Current management also slightly follows this go-by-need drafting style. It has been successful in the past. The one thing this organization isn't great at, however, is keeping these selections. Players like Eeli Tolvanen, Philip Tomasino, and Yaroslav Askarov are out of the organization as a result of poor lineup management and restricting free agency moves that push the rookies out of the starting lineup.
Unfortunately for Fitzgerald, this is one of his flaws.
The cons: he can select good, but he can't keep them long
While I did just spend a good chunk of the story discussing some good things he did, there are a handful of reasons to think otherwise. For starters, as mentioned, he doesn't do a good job at utilizing his draft selections. Whether that be through trades or simply shoving them down in the lineup, these youngsters rarely get a chance to shine.
The most prominent case of rookie displacement is in the defensive core. Right now, the Devils have one of the biggest defensive logjams in the NHL. Hughes, Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, Brenden Dillion and Johnathan Kovacevic are all starters. That leaves no room for anybody else to play, unless they play a seventh d-man. Guys like Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey, once considered some of the best defensive prospects in the league, are left to sit and wait for one of these guys to get injured or scratched.
These players don't get enough professional playing time to truly develop and grow into their shoes. If Fitzgerald has a lack of care for this youth play time, consider guys like Ryan Ufko, Tanner Molendyk, Andrew Gibson and future drafted defensemen out of the equation.
Similarly, Fitzgerald has a tendency to give priority to his veterans and isn't afraid to make big trades to acquire them. The Ondrej Palat trade is a good example. His high cap hit made it almost impossible to hand deals to younger guys and build the team long-term.
Taking big leaps on veteran trades hasn't always worked out for Fitzgerald and the Devils. Jacob Markstrom is the first to come to mind. New Jersey desperately needed a goaltender, being one of the teams to hop on the Juuse Saros trade rumors. When they settled for NHL all-star goalie Markstrom, everyone thought that it would settle that issue. However, he's failed to post a season with a higher save-percentage than .900.
Timo Meier is another example. While he still is a good player, and I do applaud for Fitzgerald's drive to acquire him, it hasn't panned out as well as intended. The former multi-30-goal scorer hasn't registered a single 30+ goal campaign with the team since his acquisition. He also isn't playing as much ice time as he did in San Jose, playing two minutes less per game with the Devils.
Nashville is in an interesting scenario. The market is closing in and the number of names are getting smaller. If Fitzgerald is ultimately decided upon to take the throne of Trotz, we could expect similar results: big money on vets and diminished ice time for the rookies. Unless Fitzgerald learned his lesson, I personally won't see his hiring as a positive thing for Nashville. It'll be just another long stretch of mid hockey.