Locked On Devils Has a No Movement Clause

Locked On Devils Has a No Movement Clause

At 10:46 this morning, ESPN’s Kevin Week said that defenseman Douggee Hamilton and forward Andre Palot were among the names that had been discussed with potential trade scenarios involving the New JERSEY DEVILS. HEY KEVIN, NO. >> You’re Locked on Devils, your daily podcast on the New Jersey Devils, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. >> Dude, this team’s going to turn me into the Joker. Oh yeah, you’re watching Locked on Devils or listening. I I’m mad. So, if you’re listening and you’re also mad, maybe be careful. You shouldn’t be driving right now. But this is Locked On Devils, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day, now the number one sports podcast network in America, in the world. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. My name is Zack Berman. I am the host of Locked on Devils and every time you think things can’t possibly get worse, they find a way. They always find a way after the first win in a while where you you come out of it and you’re like, “Hey, they actually played really well. Maybe you could build off of this. Maybe there’s something to be taken out of this game.” How do the Devils follow that up with an absolutely terrible Vancouver Canucks team in the building? The worst team in the National Hockey League without Quinn Hughes without Leas Patterson. Well, one Elias Patterson that is. How do they respond? They lose two to one to the Vancouver Conucks at home. And [clears throat] I was there. I risked my life driving through terrible weather yesterday in Mammoth County where it snowed way more than people were expecting to watch this sad, pathetic hockey team play. And I get to the credential center a little later than usual just because the weather was that bad, the roads were that bad. And I show up and they’re already down one- nothing. I didn’t even see the goal. I didn’t see the goal until until I looked at it on the replay after another bad penalty by Douggee Hamilton. Another bad rebound given up by Jacob Marstrom. Jake de Brusk 101 in makes it one- nothing Canucks off an assist from Zeve Buham. I know Don LGreco was getting a lot of crap yesterday for how he was pronouncing Zeb Buham. It is Buham. That is the correct pronunciation, believe it or not. And then five minutes later, Zeve Buouham, who the New Jersey Devils could have drafted, but instead decided to draft Anton Salv. So, not only rubbing salt in the wound, at this point, you’re rubbing toxic chemicals in the wound. He scores on an own goal that went in off of Brendan Dylan, who I’m convinced is still probably concussed from the Columbus thing a few weeks ago. Why is he even playing right now? Oh, yeah. They don’t have anybody else. That wound up being the game-winning goal. Luke Hughes scored on a beauty actually from Bratton Mercer to make it 2-1. And that was it. The Devils outshot the Canucks 26-5. The Devils outshot the Canucks 8 to1 in the third period. It was actually not the worst effort. Like effort-wise, after the first few minutes, there’s really not that much to BE UPSET ABOUT EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT THEY W THEY [screaming] LOST TO THE WORST NHL TEAM ON HOME ICE. AGAIN, IT’S LIKE THE THIRD STRAIGHT year they’ve lost to the worst team in the league at home. It was San Jose the last two years. And now this year, they lose to a god-awful Vancouver team at home. Thatcher Demco is the difference. Thatcher Demco a damn good goalie. Jacob Marstrom who I would really only say the first goal was on him. Congratulations. You finally gave up less than three goals in a GAME AND YOU STILL LOSE TO THE WORST TEAM IN THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE. What the hell? It’s so predictable how this is going down there. There’s no help coming because guess what? Everybody that the New Jersey Devils have been trying to move, namely Douggee Hamilton and Andre Palot are exercising their no movement clauses or no TRADE CLAUSES. GEE, I WONDER WHO INCLUDED THOSE IN THE CONTRACTS. IT is those players contractual rights to say no, I don’t want to BE TRADED. WHO SIGNED THOSE DEALS? WHOSE IDEA was it? Don’t be like Rangers fans and boo Mika Zabanagad because he exercised his right. Rangers fans did that. Don’t be mad at Douggee Hamilton and Andre Palot for exercising their rights to not want to be tra traded. Do not do that. That is bad. Do not, you can be mad at them because they’re crap on the ice, but don’t be mad at them for exercising their rights as National Hockey League players to stay put as New Jersey Devils BECAUSE TOM FITZGERALD MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO BE DEALT. BE MAD AT THAT. Be mad at Fitzgerald. Don’t be mad at the at the clauses in their contracts. OH YEAH, BY THE WAY, JONATHAN KOVA SAVAGE, HE HAS A no trade clause. He’s going to be back over the holiday freeze. Tom Fitzgerald has to make a move. He has to make a move in between now and Friday or else the New Jersey Devils are not going to be cap compliant. He doesn’t have a choice. What is that move going to be? Who knows? The Devils lost to the Vancouver Conucks at home after these Quinn Hughes comments are so bad. So bad. Let’s get to them. YOU WANT TO BE MAD? YOU WANT TO BE REALLY MAD? Let’s get to these comments BECAUSE QUINN IS OH YEAH, BY THE WAY, he scored as a member of the Minnesota Wild in his first game. In his first game. [screaming] I got to find the tweet. I gotta find this stupid tweet. I’ve got a lot of time for Billy as in Bill Garin, wild GM for sacking up and making a deal like he did. There are other teams that probably could have thrown in certain packages like that too, but in the end they didn’t want to do that. I don’t know. if this is directed at New Jersey because I don’t think that New Jersey necessarily had a way to match that. They didn’t have a way to match it because they drafted the wrong players. If that’s what Quinn Hughes thinks, it’s pretty misguided actually. They drafted the wrong players. That’s probably a shot at Detroit. That’s probably a shot at maybe Toronto. I don’t know. or Philadelphia even. The New Jersey Devils could not have matched the offer that Minnesota gave for Quinn Hughes. And I think it is in the best interests of the New Jersey Devils organization to fire Tom Fitzgerald immediately. Now, unfortunately, after reports yesterday morning that Tom Fitzgerald might have been on the hot seat, I think Arthur Staple and I heard it from someone similar. Arthur Staple has now walked back that statement this morning saying, “I spoke to a few more people around the league about Tom Fitzgerald’s situation. One person who would know told me that jersey ownership still fully supports Fitzgerald. I don’t think they make a GM change in the near future. [screaming] What more do YOU HAVE TO SEE? WHAT MORE DO [screaming] YOU HAVE TO DO? OH MY GOD. JUST FIRE HIM. JESUS CHRIST. [screaming] Elliot Freriedman said on his pod today that he had heard a couple trades that had been vetoed lines up with Tom Fitzgerald trying to get Pot andor Douggee to wave poorly. Nope. SUGAR HONEY ICED TEA SHERLOCK. NO, OF COURSE NOT. NO. It’s in the best interest that Palot and Douggee dig their heels in and make sure that they stay around as New Jersey Devils and continue to block any trades from being made because god forbid this team bottoms out and the next GM because if they miss the playoffs, Tom Fitzgerald is gone. I know I know what they’re saying now. Oh yeah, he’s not going to get traded. If this keeps on getting bad, well, it is already pretty bad. If it keeps getting worse, he’s not staying around. There’s no way even this ownership group is not going to keep Tom Fitzgerald if they miss the playoffs. They’re going to have a couple months with Jack Hughes and and Brett Peshy back. Like that is going to happen. If they miss, he’s gone. You know what else is going to help potentially move the needle? If you’re a seasoned ticket holder, do not renew. Do not give your money to this team right now. That will move the needle. That is what ownership cares about. That will make a statement. That is what made the statement to get Lindy Ruff fired. Do not if you’re going to a game, which I went yesterday. It was, and I know the weather plays a part in this because it was pretty miserable out. That was by far and away the most miserable just uh bad hockey. It was the most miserable experience I’ve had at the Predential Center in a long time. There was no juice, no energy. Team played like it. I mean, even though it was a onegoal game and they outshot Toronto what I mean, not Toronto. Uh they outshot Vancouver 26 to 15 and you never thought they were going to tie the game. They had a five on three. couldn’t tie the game. It was a pathetic performance and the crowd between all the empty seats. The crowd reflected that. It was a miserable game, miserable experience. I tried to start a Fire Fitzgerald fan chant and somebody a section over for me yelled at me and said, “What are you doing and tried tried to chant fire Keith instead as if Sheldon Keef’s responsible for this roster.” [laughter] Guys, guys, remember who the real enemy is. Tom Fitzgerald should be looked at alongside Ilia Kovalchuk as one of the biggest villains in New Jersey Devils franchise history. It is his fault and his fault alone that this core is not going to get the chance to compete for a a deep playoff run or a Stanley Cup under his watch. It is his fault. I mean, not to beat a dead horse like we know what he inherited as Devil’s GM between the players, between the cap space, between the draft capital. It is his fault that he has failed to build around them. Now, I wanted Tom Fitzgerald fired after the Curtis McDermott debacle. That for me was the tipping point. I asked this morning on Twitter, “What was your tipping point?” And we will get to those answers on the other side of this break. You are tuned in to Locked on Devils for better or for worse. I mean, the first ad read of the week being what it is is truly unbelievable. Like [laughter] I’m HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO get through this with a straight face? Because today’s episode, Tick tock, Josh Harris, David Blitzer, you’re going to need to hire a GM. It’s brought to YOU BY INDEED. YOU JUST REAL [laughter] JEEZ, MAN. [clears throat] You just realized your business needed to hire somebody yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. When it comes to Indeed, [laughter] when it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other sites. Indeed, sponsored jobs put your post the top of the page and help you reach the right candidates faster. [gasps] I’ve been in them. [laughter and gasps] Guess what? The New Jersey Devils are going to need to hire a new GM. Maybe they’ll find that GM on Indeed. But um now you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 sponsored job credit. Just go to indeed.com/lockedon right now to support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. Need a new job, Mr. Fitzgerald? Indeed is all you need. This is Locked on Devils. And I I said I’d go through my tweets and my tweet replies of what was the breaking point. WOW. I GOT 38 comments on this. Anukica Devils, thanks for the follow or thanks for the follow. Thanks for stopping by. When he said it was so difficult to let go of Lindy Ruff due to their friendship, I’m going to let I’m going to let you all in on a little secret. Tom Fitzgerald did not fire Lindy Ruff. He was not going to fire Lindy Ruff. Ownership went over Tom Fitzgerald and pulled the trigger because of dwindling season ticket renewals. How about that for your nugget of knowledge of the day? Justin at Devils JDI 23-24 goalie and coaching s situation how not aggressive he was. Yeah, I agree. Then last year at the deadline, the way the front office moved cap to create space and not use it. Well, yeah, they created space and then came in second for Dylan Cousins. Jake at NJ21 the McDermad trade and then resigning him. I agree. extending Lindy Ruff from Mark Phillips. I agree, but like I also I get why they did it coming off of that season. No shot. Somebody says it’s when he allowed Yeah, that’s a joke. That’s absolutely a joke. Not acquiring Quinn Hughes. Okay. Okay. Okay. When we came in second, not making a play for Yuroslav Ascarov. I agree. Kova Sevich extension that was a problem. Extending Marstrom that was like strike seven. Learn to direct your negativity in the right direction. First rule of being an adult. What? Dude, you don’t watch the team, do you? You don’t watch to to quote Lindy Ruff. You don’t watch the sport very well, do you? Um, not doing anything with the LTIR money, not finding a way to dump Pott, hiring Lindy Ruff, not finding a way to get rid of Pott when he resigned Allen and did not the Allen contract was actually very good. Didn’t make room for Daws. It was the Marstrom extension. The Marstrom extension, I think, was the breaking point for a lot of people. not bringing in Kyu, Ryan O’Reilly, extended degra, I will give you what I believe were my strikes. The first strike was the Andrew Hammond debacle, the I felt I owed this team this trade quote when the season was going the way it did. That was really concerning the way that was handled. And then well actually no I take that back. First strike was the Chase Stillman Chase Stillman pick that was like at least with Muka Mullan there was I mean it was a reach but they picked him because of potential and I’m not just saying that because Muka Mullan wound up being the key piece in the Teao Meyer trade. That was a draft pick because of potential. out. Was it the best pick they could have made? Probably not. Was the reasoning behind why the pick was made because Fitzgerald obviously wanted Braden Schneider couldn’t get him. Yeah, that wasn’t good. But it was also his first season as GM and it was the COVID draft and I that’s not something I can bring myself to lose my mind over. The Stillman pick was for me the first real like uh oh, do we know for sure this guy knows what he’s doing kind of move. Like to me that was like a oh my god like what are you doing? That was that was the first one that really spooked me a little bit after that. Strike two for me was the Andrew Hammond trait. Like that was a sign that this guy was in way over his head. The way he worded it to oh we owe like I think the fact that he can’t keep his foot out of his mouth is a big problem. Like I think it’s a bigger problem than people realize because he’s lost leverage because of things he said to the press. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t speak to the press. The oh our top priority is Lou Hughes thing. That wasn’t very good. Um, I know what this team wants. I know what they crave. No, you don’t. What? Like his knack for putting his foot in his mouth and making things worse by just speaking. It is Dave Gtlman levels of terrible. Like I’ve I think Dave Gtlman is the only GM I’ve seen in my time as a sports fan that I like actually pay attention to that I think is as bad with putting his foot in his mouth as Tom Fitzgerald is. It’s a it’s a debacle. But the Andrew Hammond thing for me was strike two. Then obviously the plot trade was bad. Like the plot signing was bad. And I want to say that strike three, but then they followed it up with the season. They did they get team meer, they get Tyler Tofoley, they win a playoff series. It was by all intents and purposes a very good season. Strike three for me was the McDermad was the Mcdermad trade. That felt like just a complete knee-jerk reaction to a dirty play and that was an oh moment. Like if if that is how you feel about this team where your top priority is that they have to get bigger and meaner and so on and so forth then uh oh like that the logic behind that was very concerning and then extending him to more than a minimum contract. Like that was like oh my god what is this guy doing? That was strike three. Strike four was trading away Tyler Tfully who wanted to stay a New Jersey Devil. Didn’t love that. Strike five was the way he handled the depth scoring thing last year or the lack lack thereof. waiting until Jack Hughes was down to make a move and the coming in second thing and actually admitting that to the press. Like to me that was crazy. Like who does that? Like who says that out loud? You’re not supposed to say that out loud. That’s strike five. Strike six is not being able to dump Pott and Hamilton in the offseason. Strike seven is the Jacob Marstrom extension. I I I think the trade for Markstrom was perfectly reasonable considering what his capit was last year and this year. I have zero problems with the fact they traded for Jacob Arststrom, but the timing of the extension, rushing it through when he was coming off an injury and the worst game of his career and that was horrific. Absolutely horrific. That was strike I Yeah, strike seven. And then strike eight is not being able to land Quinn Hughes. The average GM tenure is what, four years? run four and a half. Like this is cataclysmic levels of hockey terrorism being committed right now. Like not even no sense in mincing words. Like this is some of the worst GMing you will see in the National Hockey League as it stands right now. Who else is on this level of bad? like Kevin Adams, Barry Trotz, I don’t know, like Don Sweeney maybe. This is just a debacle. And the heat is being turned up by the fans. The heat’s being turned up by the media. And yeah, like I am upset seeing the reports that Fitzgerald’s job is apparently safe right now, which is hopefully going to change if the team keeps on losing or the team keeps on hemorrhaging money with ticket sales and whatnot. Empty seats are going to determine things. Th this is like when you are discussing whether or not someone deserves to keep their job, usually that means the writing’s on the wall. It’s just a matter of when it actually happens. Is it going to happen in the season? Is it going to happen in the off season? like I would like him fired today, but if he is unable to make any moves because of the cap situation he’s backed himself into, then by all means keep him until the end of the year. Because if he can’t do anything to make the team to change the team at all, that means he can’t spend any draft capital or assets to make any bad deals. which therefore directly translates to what? The team being able to start fresh in the offseason. And odds are you’re not going to be able to hire a full-time GM this offse or right now. You’re not going to be able to do that right now. I would love for them to be able to, but it’s not realistic. It just the options that are available are like who like Mike Gillis, John Shika, Brennan Shanahan, who I actually think wouldn’t be terrible, but Shanahan’s probably more of a director of hockey ops kind of thing. Your best bet, I think, is to fire Fitzgerald. Wait the season out. Whatever happens happens. Don’t make any rash maneuvers. Don’t let the interim do anything crazy. I don’t care who they hire as the interim. If it’s the same reason why I don’t care who the Giants hire as interim right now. It’s if your biggest concern about firing a GM is who the interim is going to be, you need to fire the GM. Like that is just the way the cookie crumbles here. Go get Sunni Meta in the offseason. Go start fresh. Like I I don’t want to say the cup window is over. I don’t want to say it’s closed, but it’s closed until Tom Fitzgerald is fired. I believe that firmly. Like you could bring somebody in in the offseason who knows what they’re doing, and this team could very easily be one, two smart moves away from being right back on track next year. They have a good coach in place. Now, I don’t want them to fire Sheldon Keefe. I think it would be stupid of them to right now. Like if Tom Fitzgerald is allowed to scapegoat Sheldon Keefe, that’s terrible. But if a new regime comes in and says, “Hey, we want to bring in our own coach,” then so be it. It is what it is. That’s just that’s just the way the business works. So that’s where we’re at right now. Everything’s a disaster. Rocky free roster freeze is the 19th. It’s Friday. Devils next play in Las Vegas on Wednesday night on national television because God hates us. And then the roster freeze is after the Utah game in Salt Lake Friday night. So yeah, that’s where we’re at and we’ll we’ll go from there. Today’s episode is brought to you by the lovely folks over at FanDuel, sponsor of today’s episode. Every Sunday, those NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment as live spreads and money lines adjust instantly. player props update. As guys heat up, you can bet next touchdown scores, drive results, totals, and more. Keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, every possibility. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the games, the game moves fast and so can you. Anything else to get through? Oh, yeah. Just one more thing. Thanks for tuning in to Locked on Devils. Oh, where’d it go? I lose my read. Ah. Ah, fire Tom Fitzgerald. He It’s his fault that I lost my read. It’s a disaster. Yeah. Botched the cat. Thanks for tuning in to Lockdown Devils. We’ll talk more about the same crap we’ve been talking about all all week, the last few month last few weeks. Really, it feels forever. It’s only been a little more than a month since Jack went down. You can find me on Twitter at Zack Bret Berman. Did locked on devils make your Spotify wrapped? I pray to you if it did. Prove it on social media and secure free month of our brand new Everydayer Club. Just tagged our national lockdown podcast network account. Any social platform, we’ll drop you a code. Be one of the first to join the Everydayer Club to get your favorite show ad free and exclusive access to the membersonly Discord channel. and make sure to make your second listen NHL game night unlocked on NHL. It is awesome. Love my colleagues that run that show. It is great. If you want to listen to some hockey talk that maybe doesn’t make you sad or it’s going to be a lot of Quinn Hughes talk. So yeah, it’s going to make you sad. But thanks for stopping by. Let’s go Devils. Fire Tom Fitzgerald.

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