The New Jersey Devils reunited with Tomas Tatar. They signed him to a one-year, $1.8 million contract. During the 2022-23 season, Tuna was one of the more underrated assets. He saw great success being paired alongside Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer. Tom Fitzgerald continues making moves during free agency, but has he truly been successful? Also, newly added defenseman, Brenden Dillon, had his first-ever Devils media availability.
Interview soundbite: Brenden Dillon (Courtesy of the New Jersey Devils)
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14 Comments
I hear that NJD is part of the Brady Tkachuk trade rumors. Fitz is still cooking. Although I would like to have Brady Tkachuk in NJ, I think the price will be too high and without getting rid of Palat contract (he has no move clause), the trade will not be even possible without looking for players like Hamilton, Mercer, Nemec …
I really like the Tatar resign and everything Tom achieved this offseason. I guess we need only to resign Mercer for something like 3 year/12M. I believe that with these steps he solved the goal area and the defense, which was the main reason of failure last season. Trade Holtz and Schmid always seems bad, but if Schmid didnt want to extend his contract, its definetely a good move, although it could have been for better return. The biggest pitty was not getting Marcheseault, for the price of 5,5M he was obtainable and would certainly help our top 6. Right now I am giving this offseason grade B
My idea for Tkachuk deal is something like that:
NJD: Brady Tkachuk (10% retained by OTT)
Ott: Ondrej Palat (50% retained by Anaheim), Chase Stillman, Vilén Topiás and 2026 1st round NJD pick
Anaheim (or some 3rd team): 2nd round 2025 pick and 4th round 2026 NJD pick
What do you think about this deal?
Welcome back, Tomas Tatar. Lets Go Devils!
I think a key thing people seem to fail to understand is it's "big game HUNTING", not "big game SIGNING". Fitz had assets and cap space to use to go hunting in hopes of landing this "big game" but that doesn't guarantee that the players being pursued are going to sign to NJ. Again, just because you WANT something, it doesn't mean you can just HAVE it. I'm quite certain Fitz has been trying to land some significant deals (he nearly had the Marchessault deal completed but he opted to go with Stamkos to Nashville. Not Fitz's fault, that was what the player chose to do). Meanwhile, he's addressed the issues NJ has had to resolve and they are in great shape going into the next season.
I wish we could get wood back
I think we could of done better then a some what washed up tatar
BIG FISH FISHING
Everyone has their own interpretation of what Fitzgerald meant by the term Big Game Hunting. But if you told me Fitz would acquire:
1. A starting goalie (Markstrom)
2. Find a hard-hitting replacement for McLeod (Cotter)
3. Add a 7th RH defenseman who could easily start on the bottom pairing (Kovacevic)
4. Add a top six RH defenseman (Pesce)
5. Add a bottom pairing LH physical unit (Dillon)
6. Add a RW bottom 6 physical agitator who can do a little bit of everything (Noesen)
7. Bring back TUNA!
This is a legit, serious playoff contender. The only thing preventing that is the injury bug, which is hopefully impacting some other club because tag, we not it!!!
No. Tom Fitzgerald has failed in free agency. Tatar is completely washed up. Not the top 6 guy we need. Small game hunting continues. He hasn't added a single star. Nobody brought in moves the needle an inch. Pesce & Dillon are slightly above average. Markstrom is only a top 15 goalie. The bottom 6 forwards are nothing to get excited about. 9 goals in 70 games Tatar. Wow! What a huge acquisition.
Think we could bring back nikita gusev? He was strangely at developmental camp. His KHL contract is up. Interesting…
Loving Dillions attitude. Felt like guys weren't sticking up for each other and having fun this year. Hopefully these additions mixes up the attitude towards the positive.
Once again Fizz has done a great job. He have done exatcly what needed in every aspect. If he can land some big fish like Tkachuk it would be awesome but this is allready very tough team to play against
Great move by fitz, Nico Tuna and Bratt such a good line
Where’s the forward of significance?
Really like Tatar signing. Low risk potentially fairly high reward move especially for $1.8 mill. We really do need another right handed shot in our top 6 but Tatar is a solid stop gap for this year until next offseason when we can either hopefully move/buy out Palat if he doesn’t improve offensively and the cap continues to rise. Also just seemed like a guy that was well liked in the room as well. Last season when our injuries started piling up, I kept wondering why we wouldn’t pay a 5th rounder to get him back for a bit like Seattle did but it is what it is