{"id":515191,"date":"2026-03-21T16:59:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T16:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/515191\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T16:59:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T16:59:29","slug":"devils-news-rumors-matthew-knies-potential-gm-demotion-jacks-dominance-the-hockey-writers-new-jersey-devils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/515191\/","title":{"rendered":"Devils News & Rumors: Matthew Knies, Potential GM Demotion & Jack’s Dominance – The Hockey Writers – New Jersey Devils"},"content":{"rendered":"

While they\u2019re 7-3-0 in their last 10, the New Jersey Devils\u2019<\/a> playoff dreams are essentially non-existent; per Moneypuck<\/a>, they have just a 1-in-625 chance to sneak in. With that being said, it\u2019s imperative they continue to play well to gain some positive momentum heading into a pivotal offseason.<\/p>\n

Related: Devils\u2019 Prospect Stock Market: Louhivaara, Silayev & More<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

In this edition of Devils News & Rumors, we discuss rumors regarding Matthew Knies, a potential demotion for general manager Tom Fitzgerald, and Jack Hughes\u2019 dominance against the New York Rangers.<\/p>\n

Matthew Knies: Future Devil!?<\/p>\n

In many ways, 23-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 forward Matthew Knies fits the mold of a player who can benefit the Devils. The 6-foot-3, 232-pound left winger is on pace for a career-high 71 points.<\/p>\n

According to insider Elliotte Friedman on a recent edition of Sportsnet\u2019s \u201932 Thoughts\u2019, the Devils showed \u201cserious interest\u201d<\/a> in Knies prior to the trade deadline. It\u2019s clear the Devils need to add more firepower to their forward group if they want to be labeled as a serious contender. <\/p>\n

\"MatthewMatthew Knies, Toronto Maple Leafs (Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

But there are mixed opinions on how much of Knies\u2019 success can be directly attributed to playing alongside Auston Matthews. Whether true or not, Jack Hughes isn\u2019t too shabby of a player to remain alongside, huh? We\u2019ll see if the Devils circle back on Knies in the offseason.<\/p>\n

Potential Demotion for GM Tom Fitzgerald?<\/p>\n

With the Devils\u2019 continued underperformance and overall inaction, the heat has been put on general manager Tom Fitzgerald. Despite achieving a franchise record 52 wins in 2022-23, this season is the sixth with Fitzgerald as full-time general manager (GM), yet they\u2019ve achieved just one single playoff series win.<\/p>\n

ESPN insider Emily Kaplan speculated on a recent episode of \u201cThe Flying V Podcast\u201d<\/a> that the Devils could potentially hire a new GM, while still keeping Fitzgerald within the organization:<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see them maybe trying to bring in somebody above [Tom] Fitzgerald, below him, some more support,\u201d said Kaplan. \u201cMaybe they make a change there, but I know that Tom Fitzgerald\u2019s plan is to continue to dangle some of these top defensemen that he has to get an impact forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack Hughes\u2019 Dominance in Hudson River Rivalry<\/p>\n

Everyone knows that Jack Hughes<\/a> rises when the moment is the biggest. Devils fans knew it already; the rest of the country learned during the Olympics.<\/p>\n

But when the Devils play their rival New York Rangers, Hughes\u2019 success transcends words. That\u2019s how dominant he\u2019s been:<\/p>\n

In the last five games against the Rangers, Jack has 15 points (9G, 6A). Over a full season, that\u2019s a ~148-goal, 246-point pace. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, that\u2019s what good players do. They shine when the light is brightest,\u201d said captain Nico Hischier.<\/p>\n

As the season moves along, be sure to continue following\u00a0The Hockey Writers\u00a0as your source for news, updates, and more from around the NHL and the hockey world.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While they\u2019re 7-3-0 in their last 10, the New Jersey Devils\u2019 playoff dreams are essentially non-existent; per Moneypuck,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5109],"tags":[201,4041,5,1272,797,576,151,5185,5184,4,3502],"class_list":["post-515191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-jersey-devils","tag-devils","tag-emily-kaplan","tag-hockey","tag-jack-hughes","tag-matthew-knies","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-jersey-devils","tag-newjersey","tag-newjerseydevils","tag-nhl","tag-tom-fitzgerald"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116268241644183993","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}