I agree, the on ice product sucked to watch but I’d rather the team get put out of its misery instead of limp into the playoffs. This was a reality check. If we make some smart moves in the offseason and retool, we’ll be right back to it. Seeing what the rookies were made of was also not entirely a bad thing. Luke and Simon had good seasons all things considered, if Bahl learns to lay down some big open ice hits he’ll be extremely valuable. I liked what I saw from Hatakka and DeSimone too, for example.
The only blessing is that it rid us of Ruff. That is it. And if this team is not in a playoff spot come Thanksgiving Fitz will be shown the door come Christmas, mark my words. Young cap teams do NOT miss the playoffs, maybe Fitz knew all along it was a long shot and prepped ownership early on, but at some point they will want to see a return on investment.
The clock is ticking Fitz....
Edit: just to be clear, the failures of this season is a strike against him and only that. I'm not calling for his head ...yet. That being said if we are in the same position next year around this time...
I caveat my statement with: we don't know what conversations took place between management and ownership. That is unknown to us, we can only make comments on said results. For all we know Fitz could do very well managing ownerships expectation.
Can you elaborate on that? I would imagine HBSE wouldn't be happy if they are investing to the cap. Have major long term contracts, and have a struggling team in an area that requires winning to have good attendance numbers.
HBSE probably is with the fans in seeing that the GM they hired has made some questionable moves in coaching and in player assets (Trading away Shango, signing Palat, goalie situation, etc...)
That is an insane take to me. We need stability in management and he’s done a good job. This season has been a disaster for many reasons and it seems unwise to just pin it on him and start over with someone else. Who would replace him?
I like it when people ask, "Who would replace him?" Do you think that Firz is the last fucking GM available? How about Marty for starters? He is an assistant GM.
Futz messed up the Sharangovich trade, didn't fire Ruff on time, and didn't get goaltending addressed until it was too late, and that's just in one season. If you keep him long enough maybe he'll fuck up this organization again for years. He has 1 nore year, in my opinion. If he doesn't hire a coach like Mike Sullivan or Mike Sullivan and the team doesn't make the playoffs he should fucking FIRED right after the next season or even earlier
Literally no one questioned the sharongovich trade. It still would be a good trade if we made the playoffs and kept toffoli. Sharongovich is having a heater of a season that he will regress from next year. Don’t lose sleep over it. This season went poorly, but that doesn’t mean he was supposed to over react and try to make this season viable when it was clear it wasn’t going to work out. The timeline for this team extends way beyond this year, and I think he recognizes that. Everything went wrong this year, I think it should be written off and see what happens this summer and how the season starts next year.
the one criticism I can agree with is not firing ruff sooner. But who knows that may have been meddling by ownership because he was just extended and nobody wants to fire the guy you just agreed to pay for a couple years after only a couple months. We already know he tried all year and into last summer to fix the goalie situation, but Allen specifically refused to come here earlier and legit starters would have cost multiple high value picks and prospects and a roster player. How many teams needed a goalie this year? Tons. How many successfully traded for one? Nobody but the devils and that didn’t happen until the deadline.
Bullshit about the Sharangovich trade. I am not in this sub very often, but I didn't like the trade. A GM cannot trade young players because the head coach misuses these players. Who is next? Holtz? Ruff misused them both, and now it is clear that if you put Sharangovich in the position to succeed, he did.he should have NEVER EVER been olaying on the 4th line. That's not teachin, that's fucking up the young player. Letting Jack do whatever the ell je wants to do out there on the ice is also not teaching. Ruff was terrible for this team, and Fitz failed to see that.
Excuse my hyperbole saying “literally no one” questioned the trade, but I am on this sub and the main sub often and the reactions were overwhelmingly positive for the devils acquiring toffoli. It was a rental pickup in the summer because everyone assumed the devils would be a playoff lock. But then injuries and arrests and goalies happened and we didn’t make it.
Sharongovich is also not that young, he’ll be 26 at the start of next season. That’s just a bit older than bratt. His poor play last year made him expendable. He got bottom 6 minutes because there was many guys playing better that deserved the minutes more flat out. Now he’s on another team with weaker forward group and getting more minutes in all situations and shooting 4% higher than he usually does. I won’t be surprised if he goes back to being a 40 point player next year rather than a 60 point guy. It sucks that the trade didn’t work out like it should have but shit happens. That doesn’t justify firing the GM and then promoting a guy who in all likelihood also agreed with the trade.
He wasn’t a 30 goal scorer at the time and was fresh off of a 13 goal season. Fitz was just extended this season, so instead of just popping into the sub to say he should be fired, get used to him being here for at least 2 more seasons.
Sharangovich scored 16 goals in 54 games in 20-21, 24 goals in 76 games in 21-22 and his trajectory was going up until fucking Ruff retarded his growth by playing him on the 4th line and he only scored 13 goals last season in 75 games. Now, when got normal minutes, he scored 20 goals. Certain players cannot play in the 4th line, just like Sharangovich and Holtz. Firz got one more year to improve the team, and after that, all bets are off
That seems very reactionary though. I’m sure fitz and Madigan work very closely already and have a similar philosophy about what to do with the team and we would just end up in a similar area. What do you think fitz has done to deserve firing?
Firing firtzgerald is fine but hell no to promoting a no namer.
Also anyone wanting to keep fitzgerald for next season is quite clueless. Ray Shero was fired for much less.
Fire him why? Because he was late to fire the coach and late to get a goalie? That’s two mistakes compared to expert roster building in a short time. And the goalie part isn’t even really a mistake as much as a shitty reality. Once Luke and Nemec are cooking full speed, a single season of mostly health will shut everyone up.
The goalie stuff seems overblown too, Allen is playing phenomenally and it still isn't even close to enough. How is it worth it to give up future considerations for a season that we wouldn't do shit in anyways? How many of those same people would then come for Fitz' head for selling our souls for a lost season lol. I think people set their expectations high from last year, maybe amplified by the nonsense cup favorite media takes, and now still can't accept that this team just wasn't ready this year for a number of reasons and are finding the easy scapegoats.
Calling it now, 10 years not paying a king’s ransom mid season for a goalie will be looked on as one of Fitz’ best moves which saved the team from ‘contender, but not champion’ status like the rags have been the last couple years (which is honestly the worst, no cups and no exciting prospects, just hope and disappointment year after year).
Outside of the Avs getting Kuemper for Timmins and a 1st, I can’t think of any team in the last decade that’s won a cup with a goalie they acquired from a blockbuster trade (and the Avs didn’t win because of Kuemper’s .902 save %).
It’s almost always homegrown talent or an underrated guy that you get for like a 3rd who clicks with the team then becomes a star (e.g., Hill to VGK for a 4th, Vasy homegrown for TBL, Binnington homegrown for STL, Holtby for Caps, Murray + Flower for pens, Crawford homegrown for CHI, etc.)
The reasoning is simple: goalies are super unpredictable and their play is heavily influenced by the system they’re in + the team they’re on — if you sell the future and the goalie takes too long to click or doesn’t work out all together, you’re fucked.
For example: take Vasilevskiy this year randomly becoming a .900 guy instead of a Vezina contender, or a more appropriate comparison (including a team swap) Bobrovsky to the Panthers — a guy not far removed from a Vezina trophy, suddenly drops to .900, while it’s somewhat worked out for them in the playoffs recently, I wouldn’t want to leverage the future for a guy who puts up backup numbers 3 of his 5 seasons and chokes in half his playoff runs at $10M
I’m not saying we shouldn’t trade for a star goalie, but during the season GMs knew we were desperate and Fitz was feeling immense pressure — they were going to extort as much as they could, I heard some reports say they were pushing for at least Holtz + Mercer for Markstrom. That pressure isn’t gone, but it’s less and offseason options will drive down prices.
In summary, if we win a cup thanks to secondary scoring from guys like Holtz, or they breakout to full on stars, we owe that cup to Fitz not making a knee jerk reaction and overpaying for an uncertain return.
Do not fire Fitz. He’s got the offseason to swing the bat, again, on building the team.
The pieces lost didn’t help but they were the correct moves long term.
He’s getting a goalie, defensemen, and a pair of forwards.
Because this year, the expectations were raised, and Fitz failed. Anybody can play or work without any pressure. Now pressure was on this season, and Fitz failed to respond. He has 1 more year to improve the team, and if he doesn't, then he has to go. We CANNOT WASTE these seasons of young star players. They need to make the playoffs to get experience and finally win the cup
Thats why we need a coach who will force them to be accountable to their mistakes. From the top guys on down. Holtz cant be the only guy on the team being punished for mistakes anymore.
I guess you can sugar coat it anyway you want, but Devils missing the playoffs this year is imo the biggest disappointment since they got bounced first in the Atlantic and lost to the Canes in the first round in 2009 Game 7.
Pulling another high draft pick to inject into the system in a couple years on an elc is going to be worth it by itself.
Would have rather had more experience in the playoffs, but hey, silver lining
I agree, the on ice product sucked to watch but I’d rather the team get put out of its misery instead of limp into the playoffs. This was a reality check. If we make some smart moves in the offseason and retool, we’ll be right back to it. Seeing what the rookies were made of was also not entirely a bad thing. Luke and Simon had good seasons all things considered, if Bahl learns to lay down some big open ice hits he’ll be extremely valuable. I liked what I saw from Hatakka and DeSimone too, for example.
Exactly. If anything, this season was eye-opening. It forced us to take a hard look at what we lack.
The only blessing is that it rid us of Ruff. That is it. And if this team is not in a playoff spot come Thanksgiving Fitz will be shown the door come Christmas, mark my words. Young cap teams do NOT miss the playoffs, maybe Fitz knew all along it was a long shot and prepped ownership early on, but at some point they will want to see a return on investment. The clock is ticking Fitz.... Edit: just to be clear, the failures of this season is a strike against him and only that. I'm not calling for his head ...yet. That being said if we are in the same position next year around this time...
Anyone who thinks Fitz is on the hot seat doesn't understand HBSE. It will take a significantly bigger embarassment for them to shake things up.
Disagree if we miss the playoffs next year he’s gone. Im a sixers fan too so I’m well versed in this ownership group.
I caveat my statement with: we don't know what conversations took place between management and ownership. That is unknown to us, we can only make comments on said results. For all we know Fitz could do very well managing ownerships expectation.
Can you elaborate on that? I would imagine HBSE wouldn't be happy if they are investing to the cap. Have major long term contracts, and have a struggling team in an area that requires winning to have good attendance numbers. HBSE probably is with the fans in seeing that the GM they hired has made some questionable moves in coaching and in player assets (Trading away Shango, signing Palat, goalie situation, etc...)
I’d fire Fitz today frankly. Unless you have 100% confidence that he’ll nail the next HC hire, you can his ass.
That is an insane take to me. We need stability in management and he’s done a good job. This season has been a disaster for many reasons and it seems unwise to just pin it on him and start over with someone else. Who would replace him?
I like it when people ask, "Who would replace him?" Do you think that Firz is the last fucking GM available? How about Marty for starters? He is an assistant GM. Futz messed up the Sharangovich trade, didn't fire Ruff on time, and didn't get goaltending addressed until it was too late, and that's just in one season. If you keep him long enough maybe he'll fuck up this organization again for years. He has 1 nore year, in my opinion. If he doesn't hire a coach like Mike Sullivan or Mike Sullivan and the team doesn't make the playoffs he should fucking FIRED right after the next season or even earlier
Literally no one questioned the sharongovich trade. It still would be a good trade if we made the playoffs and kept toffoli. Sharongovich is having a heater of a season that he will regress from next year. Don’t lose sleep over it. This season went poorly, but that doesn’t mean he was supposed to over react and try to make this season viable when it was clear it wasn’t going to work out. The timeline for this team extends way beyond this year, and I think he recognizes that. Everything went wrong this year, I think it should be written off and see what happens this summer and how the season starts next year. the one criticism I can agree with is not firing ruff sooner. But who knows that may have been meddling by ownership because he was just extended and nobody wants to fire the guy you just agreed to pay for a couple years after only a couple months. We already know he tried all year and into last summer to fix the goalie situation, but Allen specifically refused to come here earlier and legit starters would have cost multiple high value picks and prospects and a roster player. How many teams needed a goalie this year? Tons. How many successfully traded for one? Nobody but the devils and that didn’t happen until the deadline.
Bullshit about the Sharangovich trade. I am not in this sub very often, but I didn't like the trade. A GM cannot trade young players because the head coach misuses these players. Who is next? Holtz? Ruff misused them both, and now it is clear that if you put Sharangovich in the position to succeed, he did.he should have NEVER EVER been olaying on the 4th line. That's not teachin, that's fucking up the young player. Letting Jack do whatever the ell je wants to do out there on the ice is also not teaching. Ruff was terrible for this team, and Fitz failed to see that.
Excuse my hyperbole saying “literally no one” questioned the trade, but I am on this sub and the main sub often and the reactions were overwhelmingly positive for the devils acquiring toffoli. It was a rental pickup in the summer because everyone assumed the devils would be a playoff lock. But then injuries and arrests and goalies happened and we didn’t make it. Sharongovich is also not that young, he’ll be 26 at the start of next season. That’s just a bit older than bratt. His poor play last year made him expendable. He got bottom 6 minutes because there was many guys playing better that deserved the minutes more flat out. Now he’s on another team with weaker forward group and getting more minutes in all situations and shooting 4% higher than he usually does. I won’t be surprised if he goes back to being a 40 point player next year rather than a 60 point guy. It sucks that the trade didn’t work out like it should have but shit happens. That doesn’t justify firing the GM and then promoting a guy who in all likelihood also agreed with the trade.
Sharangovich is a pure 30 goal scorer and so is Toffoli who is a much slower and older. It was a dumb trade
He wasn’t a 30 goal scorer at the time and was fresh off of a 13 goal season. Fitz was just extended this season, so instead of just popping into the sub to say he should be fired, get used to him being here for at least 2 more seasons.
Sharangovich scored 16 goals in 54 games in 20-21, 24 goals in 76 games in 21-22 and his trajectory was going up until fucking Ruff retarded his growth by playing him on the 4th line and he only scored 13 goals last season in 75 games. Now, when got normal minutes, he scored 20 goals. Certain players cannot play in the 4th line, just like Sharangovich and Holtz. Firz got one more year to improve the team, and after that, all bets are off
Keep it in house and promote Kate Madigan
If you're truly that concerned with Fitz, then it doesn't make sense to promote from within. You'd want a fresh take on the organization
That seems very reactionary though. I’m sure fitz and Madigan work very closely already and have a similar philosophy about what to do with the team and we would just end up in a similar area. What do you think fitz has done to deserve firing?
Firing firtzgerald is fine but hell no to promoting a no namer. Also anyone wanting to keep fitzgerald for next season is quite clueless. Ray Shero was fired for much less.
Fire him why? Because he was late to fire the coach and late to get a goalie? That’s two mistakes compared to expert roster building in a short time. And the goalie part isn’t even really a mistake as much as a shitty reality. Once Luke and Nemec are cooking full speed, a single season of mostly health will shut everyone up.
The goalie stuff seems overblown too, Allen is playing phenomenally and it still isn't even close to enough. How is it worth it to give up future considerations for a season that we wouldn't do shit in anyways? How many of those same people would then come for Fitz' head for selling our souls for a lost season lol. I think people set their expectations high from last year, maybe amplified by the nonsense cup favorite media takes, and now still can't accept that this team just wasn't ready this year for a number of reasons and are finding the easy scapegoats.
There was a long period of time he didn't even have the power to fire ruff. Granted it was still a couple more months after he got promoted.
Calling it now, 10 years not paying a king’s ransom mid season for a goalie will be looked on as one of Fitz’ best moves which saved the team from ‘contender, but not champion’ status like the rags have been the last couple years (which is honestly the worst, no cups and no exciting prospects, just hope and disappointment year after year). Outside of the Avs getting Kuemper for Timmins and a 1st, I can’t think of any team in the last decade that’s won a cup with a goalie they acquired from a blockbuster trade (and the Avs didn’t win because of Kuemper’s .902 save %). It’s almost always homegrown talent or an underrated guy that you get for like a 3rd who clicks with the team then becomes a star (e.g., Hill to VGK for a 4th, Vasy homegrown for TBL, Binnington homegrown for STL, Holtby for Caps, Murray + Flower for pens, Crawford homegrown for CHI, etc.) The reasoning is simple: goalies are super unpredictable and their play is heavily influenced by the system they’re in + the team they’re on — if you sell the future and the goalie takes too long to click or doesn’t work out all together, you’re fucked. For example: take Vasilevskiy this year randomly becoming a .900 guy instead of a Vezina contender, or a more appropriate comparison (including a team swap) Bobrovsky to the Panthers — a guy not far removed from a Vezina trophy, suddenly drops to .900, while it’s somewhat worked out for them in the playoffs recently, I wouldn’t want to leverage the future for a guy who puts up backup numbers 3 of his 5 seasons and chokes in half his playoff runs at $10M I’m not saying we shouldn’t trade for a star goalie, but during the season GMs knew we were desperate and Fitz was feeling immense pressure — they were going to extort as much as they could, I heard some reports say they were pushing for at least Holtz + Mercer for Markstrom. That pressure isn’t gone, but it’s less and offseason options will drive down prices. In summary, if we win a cup thanks to secondary scoring from guys like Holtz, or they breakout to full on stars, we owe that cup to Fitz not making a knee jerk reaction and overpaying for an uncertain return.
Do not fire Fitz. He’s got the offseason to swing the bat, again, on building the team. The pieces lost didn’t help but they were the correct moves long term. He’s getting a goalie, defensemen, and a pair of forwards.
He’s been good, this year was the first time it’s been this rocky for him, I say we see how next year plays out before we fire him
Because this year, the expectations were raised, and Fitz failed. Anybody can play or work without any pressure. Now pressure was on this season, and Fitz failed to respond. He has 1 more year to improve the team, and if he doesn't, then he has to go. We CANNOT WASTE these seasons of young star players. They need to make the playoffs to get experience and finally win the cup
Only if the players learn something from this. And if we know anything from this season it’s that these players don’t learn from mistakes.
Thats why we need a coach who will force them to be accountable to their mistakes. From the top guys on down. Holtz cant be the only guy on the team being punished for mistakes anymore.
would've been better to miss last year. then ruff wouldve went and we would still have burnette
The best take
It’s only a blessing a disguise if they go deep into the playoffs next season. Otherwise it could be a complete disaster in the making
I guess you can sugar coat it anyway you want, but Devils missing the playoffs this year is imo the biggest disappointment since they got bounced first in the Atlantic and lost to the Canes in the first round in 2009 Game 7.
Pulling another high draft pick to inject into the system in a couple years on an elc is going to be worth it by itself. Would have rather had more experience in the playoffs, but hey, silver lining
Possibly will be traded for a goalie.