Latest news with #TomFitzgerald
New York Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Big questions for the Devils' offseason: Bottom-six shakeup? RFA deals?
It's hard to know exactly what the Devils were in the 2024-25 season. Jack Hughes, their top forward, had his year cut short because of shoulder surgery. Three defensemen also finished the year hurt, with several others playing banged up. New Jersey returned to the playoffs, for the second time in three seasons. But by the time the team got there, its roster was a shell of what president Tom Fitzgerald envisioned. Advertisement It was a good year, Fitzgerald said after the season, but not a great one. Now his job is to help the Devils take the next step in 2025-26. First, let's dig into their salary cap situation entering free agency. PuckPedia projects they will have a little over $12 million in room. They have 10 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies on the books, not counting forward Arseni Gritsyuk, who is on an entry-level deal and will contend for a roster spot. Here are their NHL free agents: •Restricted: defenseman Luke Hughes; forwards Cody Glass (arbitration rights) and Nolan Foote (arbitration rights) •Unrestricted: forwards Tomáš Tatar, Nathan Bastian, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong and Justin Dowling; defensemen Brian Dumoulin, Dennis Cholowski; and goalie Jake Allen With that in mind, here are some key questions facing Fitzgerald as he enters the summer. Fitzgerald raised some eyebrows on breakdown day by saying the Devils would not be coming back with the same group in 2025-26 because the team 'was just not good enough.' That does not necessarily mean big chances, as some fans interpreted. The core will look the same. Jack and Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier and Timo Meier are all almost certainly not going anywhere. Both Hughes brothers were hurt in the club's first round series against Carolina, but Hischier, Bratt and Meier all showed they can go head-to-head with other teams' best. New Jersey's depth was the far bigger issue. If the Devils wanted to move out big money they could explore a Dougie Hamilton trade, but that also feels unlikely. He's still an important player in their lineup, and he has a no-movement clause in his contract until July 1. After that he has a 10-team trade list, meaning that he could block a deal to any of the clubs not on his list. With a $9 million cap hit, he could make himself virtually impossible to deal. Ondřej Palát also has a no-movement clause and then a 10-team trade list that sets in on July 1. Advertisement If Fitzgerald wants to open cap space he could explore deals for someone like middle-six forward Dawson Mercer ($4 million average annual value). But don't expect any huge Devils' names to move this summer. Fitzgerald's comments were likely pointing more toward the team's depth pieces. Speaking of which… If injuries were the biggest reason the Devils lost in five games to Carolina, their lack of depth scoring was second. New Jersey had only three points from bottom-six forwards against the Hurricanes: a goal and an assist from Stefan Noesen and an assist from Paul Cotter. All three of those points came in Game 5. 'Offense has been a challenge for our team most of the season,' Keefe said when asked about the depth after Game 4. 'To expect them to all of a sudden come out and have a dominant effort offensively is probably not realistically.' That sounded less like a coach frustrated with his players and more like one realistic about his roster's limitations. Fitzgerald has a chance to tweak that this summer. His entire fourth line from the Hurricanes series — Tatar-Dowling-Bastian — will be unrestricted free agents, as will Lazar, a scratch all series. Except for Dowling, all of those players had cap hits above $1 million this year. When Fitzgerald said the group won't look the same in 2025-26, the bottom-six is a clear area where that could apply. He'll have space to shuffle the bottom-six deck. The Devils can explore adding via trade or free agency, or they can look to internal options like Gritsyuk, whom we'll get to in a bit. [ graphics id='showcase-link_FW0sjh78UXov'] Luke Hughes is the team's biggest RFA. AFP Analytics offers two types of projections for the young defenseman. If he signs long-term, AFP projects a six-year deal with an $8.39 million AAV cap hit. It has a short-term deal at three years, $5.76 million AAV. Advertisement Whether the Devils sign Hughes to a short- or long-term deal, the contract will take up a significant portion of their cap space. It's still probably worth taking a shot at a long-term contract, even if it costs Fitzgerald some flexibility this summer. With the cap going up, a long deal will age well assuming Hughes keeps developing. Nolan Foote's next deal shouldn't be too expensive — AFP Analytics projects a one-year, $866,250 deal — but Cody Glass could have an interesting one. New Jersey acquired him at the deadline from Pittsburgh, and he had two goals and seven points in 14 regular season games. He raved about his fit with coach Sheldon Keefe and said he'd 'love to' return to New Jersey in 2025-26. 'Obviously some things are out of control, but I think I've fit in,' he said. 'Hopefully I can stay.' The 26-year-old has a qualifying offer of $2.5 million. The Devils will have to decide whether that's too much to give because of their cap situation. They also can negotiate with Glass' camp and potentially sign him to a deal with a slightly lower cap hit. Fitzgerald got an early start on his offseason to-do list, signing draft picks Lenni Hämeenaho and Gritsyuk, both of whom are coming to North America from Europe. The 20-year-old Hämeenaho, a 2023 second-round pick, had 20 goals and 51 points in 58 games for Ässät in the top Finnish league, then had four points in eight games for Finland at World Championships. 'His game doesn't grab you with dynamic quality, but he goes to the net, gets involved, reads the play quickly and has decent skill across the board when opportunities to make plays arise,' The Athletic's Scott Wheeler wrote in his Devils prospect rankings. Hämeenaho will likely start his North American career in the AHL, barring a remarkable training camp. Gritsyuk, on the other hand, is 24 and could immediately jump into the Devils' lineup. New Jersey drafted him in the fifth-round in 2019, and he's since become close to a point-per-game player in Russia. He had 17 goals and 44 points in 49 games for SKA in the KHL this past season. It's hard to project exactly what he'll look like in the NHL but seems like he could be a top-nine winger. If he can bring immediate production, it would give New Jersey's forward group a big boost. As mentioned earlier, the team didn't get enough depth scoring when it mattered this year. Advertisement With Johnathan Kovacevic, injured in the Hurricanes series, not expected to be ready for the start of next season, Šimon Nemec and Seamus Casey will both have a chance to compete for early playing time. Nemec had an up-and-down 2024-25, but he played some of the best hockey of his career in the playoffs. That's encouraging going into next season. It's hard to blame anyone for getting ahead of themselves after Canucks president Jim Rutherford told local reporters that star defenseman Quinn Hughes 'wants to play with his brothers.' But let's pump the brakes a little. All indications are that the eldest Hughes, who has two years left on his deal, isn't going anywhere yet. He has neither asked for a trade nor told Vancouver he won't re-sign. The Canucks are going to try to build a contending roster this coming season, and they can't do that without their best player.
Newsroom
11-05-2025
- Newsroom
The bra-stealing rascals of Aquinas
In 1956 Aquinas students raided Knox College and stole the cutlery and cooking utensils before dumping them at Selwyn and Arana halls. The police were called and the culprits eventually confessed. James Ng, a resident from 1954 to 1958, described a recurring prank that involved fishing line to pull the chapel bell in the middle of the night; and in the winter of 1955 the students poured water on the flat roof to create a skating rink. Dominican Friar, Father Tom Fitzgerald, arrived at Aquinas in December 1957. He came to Dunedin to take over as superior at Aquinas and parish priest at Sacred Heart. He worked hard to create a spiritually uplifting atmosphere at Aquinas and to foster the hall's reputation as a 'house of study'. The residents were not always obliging He had little tolerance for disorderly behaviour. In conference with the dean of students and committee of the Students Association at the start of the 1958 academic year, he announced: 'Aquinas Hall is the property of the Dominican Fathers. Inmates of the Hall may do only those things which they are permitted to do by the owners of the Hall.' His warning fell on deaf ears. Just a few weeks later students from Aquinas raided Dominican Hall. Fitzgerald interviewed every member of the hall personally to find out who was responsible. He charged the Students' Committee with the bill for damage and wrote a furious letter to the ring leaders: 'Be good enough to present yourself at my office today, to show cause why [you] should not be dismissed from residence at Aquinas Hall, in view of the fact that, being responsible for the behaviour of students on the premises of Dominican Hall, 44 Park St, Dunedin on the 18th inst., you did allow them to enter by night the private apartments including bathrooms and dormitories, of the women proprietors and residents there, in the course of which entering, roof tiles and windows were broken, accessory soiling and inconvenience were caused, and later the building was exteriorly bespattered with mud, the ornamental pond was flooded, and metalwork and flower pots in the same were broken…' Really great photograph of Dominican Brother Martin Keogh wearing the traditional black scapular of a co-operator brother, taken from the newly published Preachers, Pastors, Prophets: The Dominican Friars of Aotearoa New Zealand by Susannah Grant * He was succeeded by Father Paul Jackson, dean of students at Aquinas from 1960 to 1975. Jackson, known variously as 'Jacko', set the tone. He ran the hostel with a light hand but was serious about study and spirituality and considered Aquinas 'a university community of scholars and Christian gentlemen'. The students at Aquinas enjoyed an active social life. The initiation of freshers usually involved early morning wake-ups; in 1968, freshmen were woken at 5:30am and mustered on the grass beside the chapel for a 'vigorous drill' of press-ups and knees-ups in their pyjamas. The day's initiation ended with a party in the television room. In 1970 the wake-up came at 4am. Freshers started the day 'very cold, very wet and very dirty, not the best time for a bath in flour and mud in the bush above the convent'. The students usually marked April Fools' Day, too. In 1966 they tied a goat to the chapel bell, which delivered a solitary mournful toll every time the animal reached the end of its tether. Aquinas entered some memorably shocking floats in the university capping processions. That of 1967 took the form of a church with a flaming cross and an effigy of Martin Luther King being hanged. The students dressed as Klu Klux Klansmen under a banner that read 'The Clueless Clots'. In 1969, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that the police objected to and banned many of their signs, Aquinas won a prize for their float titled 'Piggy Muldoon Smothers Otago University'. Hostel raids were still common in the sixties. In 1964 the Dominican Hall girls penetrated as far as Jacko's bedroom, tossing confetti everywhere and pasting newspaper on the windows. The Aquinas boys stole bras from Dominican Hall and strung them up like flags. A month or two later, when the residents at Aquinas had let their guard down, the girls broke in and put molasses on the stair rails and black nugget on the toilet seats. * By the end of the 1970s Aquinas was in serious financial difficulty. In 1978 a Board of Governors was established to assist the Dominicans with the administration of Aquinas. They needed a radical plan to get the college out of debt. In August 1978 the board voted to accept female students for the coming year. But even with more students paying higher fees (up 20 percent from 1978) the college still struggled. Food and power costs had increased, and the college had to borrow more for urgent repairs. In February 1980, with support from the College Board of Governors, it was recommended that Aquinas be closed at the end of the first term. The existing debt combined with rising running costs was insurmountable. With support from Otago University Chancellor Jack Somerville and ex-Aquinas residents they managed to battle on until the end of the year, but on October 5, 1980 the college celebrated its last formal dinner. Within a few weeks exams were over and the college began to empty out. The house chronicle recorded 'emotional scenes as some of our lady students left today. Tears and hugs for our lucky members of the community who were home.' Aquinas was sold to the Elim Church, who sold it on to the university. In 1988 the university reopened a student hostel on the site under the name Dalmore House, and later restored the original name. At time of writing, Aquinas College houses 152 students; the chapel has become a gymnasium. A mildly abbreviated chapter taken from the newly published history Preachers, Pastors, Prophets: The Dominican Friars of Aotearoa New Zealand by Susannah Grant (Otago University Press, $60) is available in bookstores nationwide. As heirs to a spiritual tradition dating back to the early thirteenth century, the friars have served in New Zealand as university and hospital chaplains, parish priests, liturgists, itinerant retreat leaders and theologians. Although no longer involved in active ministry the New Zealand friars continue to fund and facilitate Aaiotanga – the Peace Place – a community space in downtown Auckland focused on peace and social justice issues.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Canucks' Second-Line Center Hunt: Three Potential Trade Targets If Vancouver Moves A First-Rounder
With the Vancouver Canucks looking to build on last season's playoff success, but rebound from a terrible 2024-25 season, GM Patrik Allvin may be tempted to move a first-round pick to address the team's need for a second-line center. While free agency is one route (one that would save the Canucks an important asset), the trade market offers more intriguing — and possibly more impactful — options. Dawson Mercer is an interesting player because the Devils don't exactly know what he is. Drafted as a center but used primarily on the wing, he's known for his penalty-killing prowess and defensive reliability. His status as that kind of player might not make him worth a first-round pick (honestly, it doesn't), but he could be part of a much bigger trade that includes a first, Mercer, Quinn Hughes and someone like Simon Nemec and other Devils' assets. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald recently called his team a group of underachievers, saying that the 'same group won't be coming back next season.' Mercer is a valuable player, especially for a team like Vancouver looking to bolster its forward depth. His $4-million cap hit may be slightly high based on current output, but if the Canucks believe he can play a consistent role, the two sides might be open to talking about trade. This has the feel of a much bigger trade that includes multiple pieces, if it were to happen. Trevor Zegras has long been rumored to be on the trade block, and with veteran coach Joel Quenneville likely having a say in personnel decisions, Zegras' future in Anaheim looks increasingly uncertain. The 24-year-old is a high-ceiling, dynamic playmaker who's flashed elite-level skill. However, he's coming off a disappointing, injury-limited season where he scored 32 points in 57 games. He carries a significant cap hit ($5.75 million), but it's not so high that, as the salary cap rises, and should he find his game, that he'd be anything shy of great value. With the Ducks possessing a surplus of young centers and a likely desire to build their core around pieces that are in it for the long haul, Zegras could be moved for the right return. Anaheim may need to retain salary or sweeten the deal, but Zegras would be a high-reward gamble. If the Canucks targeted Mika Zibanejad out of New York, it's because they learned a few things. First, he's open to a move, but keep in mind, he's got a no-move clause and leverage to control his future. Second, after a disappointing season, the Rangers are looking to shake up their leadership group. Third, the Canucks believe Zibanejad's down season was an anomaly. This would be arguably the boldest swing. Zibanejad's name has surfaced amid speculation the Rangers are looking to reset after missing the playoffs, and with a new head coach in Mike Sullivan, additional changes may be coming. The 32-year-old forward has expressed a desire to stay in New York, but he is aware he needs to take responsibility for his declining numbers (62 points in 2024-25, his lowest full-season total since 2017-18). Perhaps the emotional toll from trade rumors and seeing those he was close to in the rumor mill, or who had already moved, might change his stance on staying. Perhaps a fresh start could benefit both parties. The Canucks would have the cap space seeing as Brock Boeser is not returning. This is a long shot given the dynamics at play, but not impossible if the Rangers decide to retool more aggressively. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Devils Announce Big Changes Following Early Playoff Exit
The New Jersey Devils reached the postseason this year, but they fell short of advancing past the first round. New Jersey lost in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes, ending any hope the franchise had for this season. Following the early playoff exit, the Devils' front office has determined that some changes need to be made. The team announced some coaching staff changes following the disappointing ending to the season. Advertisement "The New Jersey Devils today announced that the team will not renew the contracts of Assistant Coaches Ryan McGill and Chris Taylor. Additionally, the contracts of Head Video Coach Jerry Dineen and Utica Comets Assistant Coach David Cunniff also will not be renewed." New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at Prudential Mulholland-Imagn Images While the Devils did reach the postseason, the team had much higher goals than just a first-round appearance. Injuries did play a role in the early playoff loss, but the team now has some soul-searching to do this offseason. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald discussed this fact during his end-of-the-year press conference. "We've got a lot of decisions to make on certain players whether we bring guys back, trade players (but) we won't be coming back with the same group (in 2025-26)," Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said during his end-of-season press conference on Thursday. "I can tell you that because it wasn't good enough." Advertisement New Jersey will go forward seeking an update in different areas, as they try to build a team capable of winning the Stanley Cup. This will be a crucial summer for the team, and one that could alter the trajectory of the franchise for years. Related: Ducks Owner Breaks Silence on Joel Quenneville Hire
New York Times
10-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
New Jersey Devils clinch third playoff berth in last 14 seasons
The New Jersey Devils are playoff-bound as of Wednesday night, clinching a berth while idle after the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Rangers 8-5. The Devils return to the postseason for the first time since 2022-23, after team president Tom Fitzgerald spent last offseason bringing in new coach Sheldon Keefe as well as multiple key contributors, including goalie Jacob Markstrom; defensemen Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon and Jonathan Kovacevic; and forwards Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter. It will only be the Devils' third time in the playoffs since their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011-12. Advertisement Based on the current Eastern Conference standings, New Jersey are guaranteed to play the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. It's a rematch of the Devils' 2022-23 second-round series, which they lost in five games after edging out the Rangers in the first round in a winner-take-all Game 7. New Jersey will have a tough test in the Hurricanes, in large part due to injuries: Star forward Jack Hughes (shoulder) is out until the start of next season, and top defenseman Dougie Hamilton (lower body) will miss the rest of the regular season and at least the start of the playoffs. Jonas Siegenthaler (lower body) also suffered an injury that ended his regular season in early February. 'We've obviously done a lot of good throughout the season with the hand we've been dealt,' Dillon said Tuesday. With Hughes out, winger Jesper Bratt and captain Nico Hischier have been the team's top offensive players. Bratt is enjoying a second consecutive point-per-game season, and Hischier has posted a career high in goals. On defense, Luke Hughes and Pesce are both playing more than 21 minutes a night. To further help fill the injury void, Fitzgerald acquired defenseman Brian Dumoulin and forwards Cody Glass and Daniel Sprong at the deadline. Those players aren't close to replacing the likes of Hughes, Hamilton and Siegenthaler, but they at least give the Devils less of a tattered roster entering the playoffs. With a 24-14-3 record, New Jersey was second in points in the Eastern Conference on New Years' Day. The Devils then went 13-14-4 to start 2025, dropping them to third in the Metropolitan Division standings. But they righted the ship in recent weeks, winning four of their next six and putting themselves in position to clinch. 'I feel good about our group but we've got some work left to be done,' Keefe said Tuesday.
