5 Expected Devils Changes After GM's Comments

The New Jersey Devils looked good in the first half of the season, but then things started to go off the rails after Jack Hughes' season ended due to injury and Dougie Hamilton missed a bunch of time as well. It really tested the depth that was great at the beginning of the season for a short period of time, but couldn't sustain anything and was one of the downfalls.

After being eliminated in five games by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs, there were some interesting comments made by general manager Tom Fitzgerald, saying "we won't be coming back with the same group. Because it was just not good enough."

He also said, "I like our group. My job is to continue to better the group. And we've got a lot of decisions to make on certain players, bringing guys back, trade players..."

Tomas Tatar

Tomas Tatar just got his last chance with the Devils as he simply wasn't good enough during the regular season or the playoffs. He finished with seven goals and 17 points in 74 regular season games while averaging 11 minutes per game and didn't contribute offensively at all in four playoff games while playing closer to 12 minutes per game. At 34 years old, his game has fallen off and the $1.8 million will be better utilized elsewhere.

Brian Dumoulin

Brian Dumoulin didn't do a poor job on the Devils, but there are just too many options on the back-end for the team to justify signing him to a deal as he is the only UFA other than Dennis Cholowski. Dumoulin did pretty well overall during the final 19 games of the regular season and didn't hurt the team in the five playoff games, but another team will have better use for him as New Jersey has eight options on defense that should be playing in the NHL every game.

Justin Dowling

It's tough to fault Justin Dowling too much as the fourth line veteran center, but I wouldn't say he is exactly an NHL player. Part of the reason why he got in so many games was due to the injuries, especially to Hughes. He played just over 10 minutes per game in 52 regular season games, contributing a small amount, and then stayed in the lineup for all five playoff games, only contributing 12 hits and a losing faceoff percentage. This is another 34-year-old who the Devils are much better off replacing.

Jake Allen

Jake Allen did a good job for the Devils this season and didn't get the chance to get into any playoff games. It was a solid trade made to bring him in as a backup the year prior and he did his job when Jacob Markstrom was out as well. His time in New Jersey has come to an end because Markstrom is still there and it's time Nico Daws steps in. This change will be another like the Dumoulin one as there isn't space, not a change due to poor performance.

Daniel Sprong

Daniel Sprong has fallen hard since his very good underrated seasons with the Seattle Kraken as he didn't help out much on the Devils, getting two assists in 11 games and playing in just one of the playoff games. Since he wasn't around for long, it's easy to move off of him and get another depth piece with more potential or consistency.