Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashes
All of these reports about the Devils circling back on Markstrom every few days, at this point if he doesn't make the deal and the Devils miss the playoffs from bad goaltending, you'd have to think he might lose his job.
Goaltending has been their Achilles' heel all season, if Markstrom comes in and sneaks them into the playoffs this season and then gets them 2 more solid playoff runs, that should be worth at least one premium asset (Mercer) IMO.
I think the deal goes through, too many eyes on Fitz right now. He waited way too long, but there's still a fool's hope that they can get hot down the stretch.
|
Fitz has really blown the opportunity. The Devils have used up the games in hand that they had on the Flyers and are still 8 points back. Game after game they seem to be getting run over by bad goaltending while their division rivals are passing them by with average win rates (5 or less wins in the last 10).
If they had the Flames 6-4-0 record right now instead of their 3-7-0 record they would be pushing the Flyers out of the playoffs and fending off the push from the Islanders.
I would not be surprised if Fitz loses his job over this. Obviously not just because of this one move but the combination of going after Meier and signing him to a big contract, spending assets to acquire Toffoli to set up this winning season, and then whiffing over goaltending when a deal was there to be made.
The Devils are going to need to win around 15 of their last 20 games to make the playoffs.