NEWARK — April 6, 2026 ET — The New Jersey Devils announced that tom fitzgerald will depart the organization after a conversation with Managing Partner David Blitzer on Sunday. The move ends Fitzgerald’s run in the top hockey job and lands at a moment Blitzer called a critical offseason for the franchise. In the same statement, Blitzer said the Devils will explore all avenues to position the club to compete for a Stanley Cup again.
Blitzer says the team is moving in a new direction
Blitzer said he and Fitzgerald had “a thoughtful conversation” and “agreed it was time to move in a new direction. ” He credited tom fitzgerald with changing the trajectory of the team, including setting a franchise record for points in a season and helping make New Jersey a hockey destination. Blitzer also acknowledged fan frustration, saying the club has not delivered in the way supporters expect and deserve.
Fitzgerald said that after speaking with Blitzer, “the best course of action is to move on for the benefit of the team. ” He thanked Blitzer, Josh Harris, and the organization for the past decade and said he looks forward to the next step in his hockey career. The statement did not identify an immediate replacement.
Tom Fitzgerald’s role shifted over time
tom fitzgerald was named interim General Manager on January 12, 2020, then promoted to Executive Vice President/General Manager on July 9, 2020. He later served as President, Hockey Operations/General Manager beginning January 23, 2024. The announcement makes clear that his departure is effective now, with the Devils entering a summer that will shape the direction of the hockey operations department.
The timing matters because the organization framed the change as part of a broader reset, not a routine personnel move. Blitzer said the Devils will examine every option available as they try to rebuild toward championship contention. For a club that has talked openly about standards and expectations, the separation from tom fitzgerald marks a major shift in leadership.
Questions now turn to the next hire
One immediate issue is how the Devils will organize the search for their next hockey decision-maker. The club did not name an interim plan in the statement, leaving the structure of the front office to be clarified later. That uncertainty places extra weight on the coming decisions around leadership and the roster.
There is also outside attention on the vacancy, including interest tied to tom fitzgerald’s name in a separate discussion of another NHL opening. But the Devils’ own statement kept the focus on the organization’s need to move forward and reset its hockey operations. What happens next will define how quickly the franchise can act on Blitzer’s call to compete again.
What comes next for the Devils
The next step is expected to be a search or internal decision on how to fill the role left by tom fitzgerald. The Devils have positioned this as a critical offseason, and the urgency in the statement suggests that the front office change is only the first move. The club’s direction, and how fast it can stabilize after the split with tom fitzgerald, will now come under close watch in Newark and across the league.
