Our second and final installment of a short two-part series grading every signing and re-signing general manager Tom Fitzgerald made is below. You can read part I of the series right here.

2022-23

Brendan Smith – Two years, $1.1 million AAV

Brendan Smith is a fine depth defenseman and was a fine depth defenseman for the Devils. The problem came with the fact that he ended up playing 60-plus games in each of his two seasons with the team. Playing a guy like him that much doesn’t put you in the best position to win.

Grade: C+

Ondrej Palat – Five years, $6 million AAV

Ondrej Palat gave the Devils two years of solid two-way play and decent production. That’s been it so far. In 2024-25, Ondrej Palat contributed -0.8 even strength defensive wins above replacement (EVD WAR) which was the worst mark on the Devils and 24th worst in the NHL. This was Tom Fitzgerald’s first really bad signing. However, Palat did give the Devils two pretty decent years which saves the grade from being an F.

Grade: D-

Vitek Vanecek – Three years, $3.4 Million AAV

Vitek Vanecek was acquired by the Devils as a restricted free agent in 2022 and gave the team one really good year and one really bad year. Vanecek’s 33 wins in 2022-23 puts him only behind Martin Brodeur for most wins in a single season in Devils franchise history. 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t carry that momentum over into the next season before being shipped off to San Jose. Overall though, a 50-20-7 record with a .903 save percentage isn’t too shabby.

Grade: B-

Jonas Siegenthaler – Five years, $3.4 million AAV

This Siegenthaler contract doesn’t get quite as high of a grade as the last one, but it’s still pretty darn good. While year one of the deal (2023-24) was not a pretty one for the Swiss defenseman, he returned to form with an excellent 2024-25. Siegenthaler’s 0.6 EVD WAR per 60 minutes plus penalty kill WAR per 60 minutes of 0.08 was the highest among all defenseman in the NHL. A steal of a deal for under $3.5 million per season.

Grade: A

Jesper Bratt – One year, $5.45 million AAV

Bratt’s second contract on this list is hard to judge because it was a pure bridge deal. Simply looking at the one year Bratt played under this deal it grades out well. In 2022-23, Bratt set a career-high in goals with 32 and matched his career-high in points.

Grade: A

Miles Wood – One year, $3.2 million AAV

This was an interesting deal from the moment it was signed. Miles Wood had the best season of his career in 2021, and then missed almost the entirety of the following season with a hip injury. Wood’s camp and the Devils came to agreement on a one-year prove it deal right before camp opened. 

Was the deal a little bit of an overpay? Sure, but it was just for one season and Wood produced at a decent clip especially down the stretch.

Grade: C+

2023-24

Jesper Bratt – Eight years, $7.875 million AAV

If there’s one thing you can rely on general manager Tom Fitzgerald for, it’s to sign Jesper Bratt to great value deals. Bratt’s first long term deal was no different. It is only two years into the contract, but in those two years alone, Bratt has set a new career high in points (twice), broken the Devils’ single season assist record, and leads all Swedish NHL players in points with 171 in 163 games.

Grade: A+

Erik Haula – Three years, $3.15 million AAV

After a solid regular season and great playoff run, Erik Haula for just over $3 million per year felt like solid value. While year one of the deal was good enough on Haula’s end, year two was not. In an effort to rework the team’s bottom-six, Fitzgerald shipped out the final year of Haula’s contract to clear cap room. 

While Haula was well respected by both his teammates and fans, he failed to replicate the success that earned him the deal in the first place.

Grade: C+

Timo Meier – Eight years, $8.8 million AAV

Some fans might think a B-minus for Timo’s contract is too high, some might think it’s too low. It’s been an interesting couple of years for Meier as injuries and scoring droughts have made many believe he’s not the same player the Devils acquired over two years ago. He definitely is, providing tenacity that is not matched by anyone else in the Devils’ top six. However, the production does have to improve for this to be considered a good contract. For now, it’s just above average.

Grade: B-

Nathan Bastian – Two years, $1.35 million AAV

Nathan Basitan is a more-than-serviceable fourth-line forward. This was also fine fourth-line guy contract.

Grade: C+

Tomas Nosek – One year, $1 million AAV

Much like Bastian, Tomas Nosek was a fine fourth-line guy while on the Devils, just with worse production. Funny enough, he is now a Stanley Cup champion.

Grade: C-

Kevin Bahl – Two years, $1.05 million AAV

Kevin Bahl played good defense in a middle-pairing role during the 2023-24 season. That kind of output on essentially a league minimum deal is great value. Bahl being flipped to help the team get Jacob Markstrom was just the gravy on top.

Grade: B+

2024-25

Kurtis MacDermid – Three years, $1.15 million AAV

If you’re looking at which contract Tom Fitzgerald has signed that is the worst by pure value, this one might be it. Kurtis MacDermid was brought in by the Devils for his toughness. Fair enough, the problems arose when Fitzgerald extended a player with zero skills in any aspect other than punching and checking people to a contract that was more than one season for more than league minimum. 

Grade: F

Brett Pesce – Six years, $5.5 million AAV

From the worst to one of the better, we have Brett Pesce. After being one of the better shutdown defenseman in the NHL for nearly a decade in Carolina, the New York native came home, signing a deal in free agency with the Devils. 

Pesce didn’t miss a beat in the transition, shutting down opposing top players on a nightly basis. Pesce impressed so much playing next to Luke Hughes this past season, that he is being considered for Team USA at the Olympics in February.

Grade: B+

Brenden Dillon – Three years, $4 million AAV

Brenden Dillon had a fine first season in New Jersey. He did his job and he did it quite alright. Not really much else to say on this one besides that he got too much term for a 33-year-old, but I’m sure if the Devils wanted to move this deal a year from now they could.

Grade: C+

Stefan Noesen – Three years, $2.75 million AAV

The third and final contract Tom Fitzgerald signed on July 1 brought back a familiar face. Stefan Noesen had blossomed into a really solid bottom six and power play guy in Carolina. Noesen flourished in a bigger role this past season, setting a career high in goals and points. While the second half of the year wasn’t as good, this deal still projects as great value over the final two years.

Grade: A

Tomas Tatar – One year, $1.8 million AAV

While Tomas Tatar didn’t produce like he did his first time around, he did give the Devils solid defense and a handful of goals in a bottom-six role. For the deal he signed, you really can’t complain about that.

Grade: B-

Dawson Mercer – Three year, $4 million AAV

Dawson Mercer has struggled to produce at the same rate as his awesome 2022-23 season, but that doesn’t mean he still didn’t provide some positive value last season. Was year one of this contract great for the Devils? No, but I wouldn’t say it was close to bad either, especially given he posted some of the best defensive impacts of his career last season.

Grade: B-

Johnathan Kovacevic – Five year, $4 million AAV

Johnathan Kovacevic was acquired via trade for pennies last summer and shattered all expectations. The defenseman on his third NHL team earned a well-deserved extension that looks even better now that we’ve seen how free agency has played out. It’s hard to tell how this deal will exactly end up, but based on what we saw last season this deal should be more than fair.

Grade: A-

2025-26

Jake Allen – 5 years, $1.8 Million AAV

Home stretch time, Jake Allen has been one of the best backup goalies since being acquired by the Devils. Of all goaltenders with 3000 minutes or less since the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, Allen ranks third in goals saved above expected (GSAx) according to Sportlogiq. His 13.77 GSAx only sits behind Frederik Andersen of the Hurricanes and Anthony Stolarz of the Panthers/Maple Leafs.

Five years is a lot for a 34 year old, but well worth it to get that AAV down to a very team friendly $1.8 million.

Grade: A

Connor Brown – Four years, $3 million AAV

Obviously hard to judge this one, even more so than a deal like Allen’s, because Brown hasn’t suited up for a game in New Jersey yet. However, we can look at past performances. Brown is a solid bottom-six penalty killer who has the speed to play up the lineup as well. For now $3 million over four years feels like a lot, but with the cap going up it should be fine.

Grade: B-

Evgeni Dadonov – One year, $1 million AAV

It’s hard to say this deal is anything other than good, even before watching Dadonov play a game as a Devil. There are performance bonuses involved of course, but even if this deal gets up to its maximum value it should still be well worth it for a winger coming off a 20-20 season in Dallas.

Grade: A

Cody Glass – Two years, $2.5 million AAV

Last but not least, we have Cody Glass. Glass was one of the most valuable defensive forwards in hockey last season, so a two-year deal at the same price as his qualifying offer isn’t bad business whatsoever. 

Glass had six points in his first seven games as a Devil before missing time with injury. In seven games post-injury, Glass collected just one point. The former top-10 pick should be a quality depth piece for the Devils this season.

Grade: B

Conclusion

Overall, how has Tom Fitzgerald done in terms of handing out contracts? The answer is unsurprisingly pretty decent. Here is a table showing where his signings have graded out:

Grade	Total
A+ to A-	10
B+ to B-	12
C+ to C-	9
D+ to F	2

66.7% of the contracts that we looked at in this series were graded at a B- or better. If A-range is great and B-range is good then that feels quite solid. Even the deals in the C-range aren’t bad, just average. 

Getting good value on contracts is very important to building contending teams. The work Tom Fitzgerald has done to get players like Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Jonas Siegenthaler to the deals they’re on is quite impressive. The Devils’ general manager has been getting some heat from Devils fans as of late, but in terms of contracts given out, there isn’t much to complain about.