Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald Gets His Man In Timo Meier

New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald had a goal in mind prior to the March 3rd Trade Deadline and that was to add a top-six scoring controllable winger. Fitzgerald identified Timo Meier from the beginning of this process and got him Sunday evening.

As Fitzgerald spoke to the media on Sunday with a big smile on his face saying how great he was feeling, he mentioned that his team identified Meier going back as far as last season.

“Our radar in the hockey ops department is quite some time,” Fitzgerald said. “Going back to last year we inquired about Timo, but here we are. The process took months. You start planting seeds and then the seeds turn into trees and start growing. Then you go ‘this is getting serious now, and we might have a chance.'”

Fitzgerald has put the Devils into this position to be a buyer at the deadline. After years of building up draft capital and picks, the Devils pulled the trigger on a trade with the San Jose Sharks. Though it took some time to get completed because of all the players involved along with draft picks, Timo Meier is officially a member of the New Jersey Devils.

As previously mentioned, the Devils priority heading into the trade deadline was a top-six scoring winger. Meier is that. Not to mention he is a big, physical force that is a perennial 30-goal scorer in the league. Meier is a prototypical power forward in the NHL. Something the Devils have not seen since the days of his agent Claude Lemieux was on the team.

The addition of Meier gives the Devils options in their top-six forward group. Meier is a finisher and that is something the Devils were lacking. Especially for center Jack Hughes. The Devils have too many pass-first guys and not enough shoot-first guys. Meier is a shoot-first guy.

In addition to his scoring production, Fitzgerald continues to add players with playoff experience to help the young core of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt prepare for the second season. Fitzgerald already signed Dougie Hamilton and Ondrej Palat, the addition of Meier only gives this Devils team even more experience.

“When you look at your roster and you’re trying to add talent, we want to get bigger up front in certain areas,” Fitzgerald continued. “Playoff hockey is a different animal. It really is. The war of attrition. The little battles, the net fronts, the corners, the dirty areas, that’s real. Refs put their whistles away. Elbows are a little higher, a little sharper. Just being able to sustain that as a player, bringing somebody in with experience is something we really wanted to add and help educate our group.”

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Fitzgerald continues to do what is best for his club and not make reactionary trades to what other teams are doing in his division or conference.

“I was just doing what was best for the New Jersey Devils, not reacting to what the Rangers did or may do again, what the Islanders did,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m not a reactionary general manager or person. I’m very thorough and try to think things out and stick to a game plan, maybe deviate here and there.”

As FullPressHockey.com has noted on several occasions, the Devils will continue to look to add depth players to this roster after making a splash with Timo Meier. Fitzgerald reiterated that statement during his meeting with the media.

“We’re continuing to look at how we round out our roster, how we round out our personnel, what do we need, what areas can we add some depth,” Fitzgerald said. “This is a lot different than the last couple, so this is fun.”

Fitzgerald heard the fans loud chants for Timo Meier and believes like the players do he has a championship calibre team. Again this is the first of many years Fitzgerald and the Devils hope to be competitive and in the hunt for a Stanley Cup Championship.

Fitzgerald will worry about getting the details done on the contract extension later on, but for right now he got his man in Timo Meier.