Long-Term Injuries Forced Tom Fitzgerald To Change His Trade Deadline Plans
Devils GM and President Says Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler are Done for the Year
The New Jersey Devils have an interesting NHL Trade Deadline. Their president and General Manager, Tom Fitzgerald, had to fill many needs. However, nobody knew the extent of the injuries to certain defense players.
The team had already announced that one of their top center Jack Hughes was done for the season after shoulder surgery. So there was a reason to go after a center that could move up and down the lineup. But to go after two defenseman, something was up.
Every team needs depth defensemen come playoff time. The Devils were already without Jonas Siegenthaler, but Dougie Hamilton got hurt during the Devils' loss to the Dallas Stars a couple of days before the trade deadline. As it stood, Hamilton was out with a lower body injury, while Siegenthaler was recovering from surgery after suffering a lower body injury before the Four Nations Faceoff against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Once the deadline came and went, Fitzgerald said Siegenthaler was out for the rest of the regular season. In addition, Hamilton was an extended period of time. But nobody knew how bad it was until now.
However, Fitzgerald appeared with Rob Simpson on a recent episode of his podcast, where he provided a major update when it came to the health of these players most people figured was coming
“On the back end, you know, knowing that Siegenthaler, most likely was going to be all for the remainder of the season and year,” Fitzgerald said. “Then Dougie Hamilton goes down, and you lose him for the rest of the year, possibly in the playoffs.”
Tom Fitzgerald spoke with @simmerpuck yesterday and stated that along with Jack Hughes Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler are done for the year including playoffs.
He said they are not planning on having them for playoffs #njdevils
Full Episode: https://t.co/MDSaZfs8uF pic.twitter.com/KBGyJYHhBv
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) March 13, 2025
Simpson later followed up by asking about Hamilton’s status after Fitzgerald subtly mentioned that he did not envision having Hamilton back for the playoffs. Maybe the second round, but this group of defensemen is what he plans to have come playoff time.
“No, not right now. I think it’s going to go beyond that. It’ll go into the second round. I got to go back and do the math. I mean it just happened last week. There’s a possibility. We’re not planning on it. How’s that? Yeah, this is what we have,” Fitzgerald said.
Sheldon Keefe during the morning skate ahead of the Devils game against the Edmonton Oilers backed up his GM saying this is the group they
“The nature of his injury, if everything goes perfectly (he could return in the regular season), but we’re not counting it, let’s put it that way. We’re pressing on as if we don’t have him,” Sheldon Keefe said.
The Devils later confirmed that Dougie Hamilton was done for the rest of the regular season. His status for the playoffs, even if the Devils get to the second round, is doubtful. The same goes for Siegenthaler.
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That is three key pieces the Devils are missing heading into the stretch as they battle to hold onto the third spot in the Metro Division. You can see why they targeted defensemen, especially depth defensemen, at the deadline and did not do much else.
Tom Fitzgerald played it safe with this group, which they believe can make the playoffs and potentially win a round or two. They tried for a center but came up short. The prices are too high for scoring wingers and centers who would fill Jack's void.
So he changed his plans. Instead of being aggressive as he had planned and maybe adding depth up the middle with Daniel Sprong and Cody Glass was the plan all along, but it felt the Devils could do more with the LTIR cap space they had with the Hughes and Siegenthaler injuries.
Fitzgerald went back to the team's foundation, which was defense and good goaltending. He added Brian Domoulin and Dennis Cholowski were added on the backend, and Simon Nemec is still there for now.
Domoulin has a history with Fitzgerald. They were together in Pittsburgh when Tom Fitzgerald was the Assistant General Manager, and the Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Domoulin has filled in nicely, being paired with Johnathan Kovacevic, Siegenthaler’s partner.
“We were always targeting a left shot D, and felt that was important because that was the strength of our team which starts in our net and through our back end because of our size and how we defend, and we didn’t want to kind of loosen that up a bit,” Fitzgerald added. “So, going out and targeting Brian Domoulin was important because of how he plays, what he brings to the table, and his experience and winning, which were important for the group. Like you said up top, no, you’re ever going to replace a Jack Hughes.”
Again, if you look at these moves initially, they are great moves when the team is healthy. But with money to burn, they could have done more. Again, prices were expensive at the NHL Trade Deadline, but you have to give something to get something. Fitzgerald wasn't willing to part with major assets like Dawson Mercer or Simon Nemec, especially for someone like Brayden Schenn.
New Jersey had been linked to Mikko Rantanen, but Carolina was not trading him inside the division. The Vancouver Canucks had a dilemma with Brock Boeser. They needed to keep for the stretch run to make the playoffs. The St. Louis Blues weren't moving guys because they were in a playoff race. There was not much out there in terms of scoring wingers.
The center market became thin once Jake Evans signed in Montreal, Scott Laughton was traded to Toronto, and Brock Nelson was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. New Jersey settled on Sprong and Glass to create competition with the extra space.
However, Tom Fitzgerald had one plan and shifted to another. But maybe plan B was the plan all along. We will never know. What we know is that the plan was to get a center-and-depth defense.
The Devils defense remains in shambles, but it is going to be a committee that gets the job done down the stretch. New Jersey’s number one goalie is back, Jacob Markstrom. But it will not be easy having to deal once again without one of their top centers and two of their top four defensemen for the remainder of the year.
Not only is New Jersey trying to battle the Carolina Hurricanes for the second seed in the Metro, but they also have to fight off the Columbus Blue Jackets for third. It will not be easy, but there is a belief they can get it done. Things look better for New Jersey, but it will not be an easy task as the month of March continues.
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