“My job is to improve the team. But my window is not one year,” Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald told The Athletic on Thursday. “We’re a year ahead of where I think everyone thought we would be, but here we are. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to do my job and try to improve the club long-term.”
Fitzgerald is scouring the market, getting a good idea of what’s out there. But paying premium assets for a pending unrestricted free agent rental player is unlikely. Renting a depth piece? That’s possible. But for a bigger acquisition, the perfect scenario is adding a player who’ll be with the Devils past this season.
“That would be great if I could do something like that, but other teams want to do the same thing,” Fitzgerald said. “In an ideal world, you’re giving up assets and bringing on a player that will grow with our core group in that age bracket.”
If the Devils make a bigger splash, there’s a specific area in mind.
“If it’s possible, I’d like to add a top-six winger,” Fitzgerald said candidly. “And I’d like to be able to control the player (past this season) and grow. I’d be willing to give up assets to do that, and I’ve got to know, ‘What does that look like?’”
theathletic.com
