{"id":438715,"date":"2024-03-12T14:30:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T18:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=438715"},"modified":"2024-03-12T14:23:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T18:23:21","slug":"new-jersey-devils-stock-up-stock-down-fired-lindy-and-trades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/03\/12\/new-jersey-devils-stock-up-stock-down-fired-lindy-and-trades\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Devils Stock Up\/Stock Down: Fired Lindy and Trades"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final month of the NHL is upon us and a crazy 2024 NHL trade deadline has come and gone. It has been a hectic few weeks since our last New Jersey Devils<\/a> stock up\/stock down. Head Coach Lindy Ruff<\/a> was fired<\/a>, Tyler Toffoli was traded<\/a>, and the Devils acquired two<\/a> new goalies<\/a>. It may not change the course of the 2023-24 season, but the mechanisms are in motion for a massive upcoming offseason for the franchise.<\/p>\n

Amid all the chaos some hockey was played too. Unfortunately, none of it was good hockey. The Devils finished up their California road trip with back-to-back losses. They followed that up by going 1-2 in a three-game home stand and then most recently lost to the New York Rangers<\/a>. A 1-5 record since the start of March has set the Devils up for a long, miserable final month.<\/p>\n

New Jersey Devils Stock Up\/Stock Down<\/h2>\n

Stock Up<\/h3>\n

Offseason Flexibility<\/h4>\n

With the Devils all but out of the playoff race, the focus is now on the offseason. The first step was taken when General Manager Tom Fitzgerald<\/a> fired Lindy Ruff. The move was long overdue but it now gives him a clean slate to find a coach to take the team over the top. Barring a miracle turnaround, the poor results in Travis Green’s<\/a> interim trial stink likely taking him out of the running for the fulltime gig.<\/p>\n

However, the most consequential moves made were the trading away of Tyler Toffoli<\/a>, as well as trading away Vitek Vanecek<\/a>. With Toffoli, the two sides couldn’t agree on a contract so he was rightly shipped off for draft picks. The Devils are nearing a cap crunch so locking up a solid, yet flawed player for big money would’ve been a mistake. As for Vanecek, getting San Jose<\/a> to take on the last year of his $3.4 million gives Fitzgerald more breathing room to operate in the offseason.<\/p>\n

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"We look at this deadline as a transitional deadline, setting us up for the offseason." – Tom Fitzgerald, #NJDevils<\/a><\/p>\n

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) March 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n