Tracy J. Chappelle 
Ever since Tom Fitzgerald became general manager of the New Jersey Devils, one area he’s been constantly trying to fix is goaltending. And Fitzgerald thought he solved that problem last offseason with the signing of Jonathan Bernier. Bernier was supposed to help give Mackenzie Blackwood the rest he needed during an 82-game regular season. However, that didn’t happen as Blackwood suffered a heel injury to start the season and was not vaccinated, which forced Bernier to play more.
But now the Devils are now without their two goaltenders as Bernier was lost to season-ending hip surgery, while the Devils have no idea when Blackwood will return from football. a heel injury. Forcing Nico Daws and Jon Gillies to play more. For the last seven games, he’s been Daws’ net and the team is allowing him to play through his mistakes at the NHL level. And in the last four games, Daws has a .924 save percentage. And while Daws is on track to be the starter of the future, Tom Fitzgerald knows he has to do something to improve the New Jersey Devils goaltender and he’ll be looking at all options.
“As far as goaltenders go, we’re going to have to go back to the drawing board this summer,” Fitzgerald told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.
The Devils believed they had solved their goaltending issues at least for now when they signed Corey Crawford. However, after his abrupt retirement from the NHL, it left the Devils in a bind. Mackenzie Blackwood could only carry the Devils load for so long and eventually his body was going to give out. What he has. The organization wanted to bring in a substitute keeper to push Blackwood as it looked like he was on track to be the number one keeper. But that changed due to his injury and other factors. Without forgetting the game of Daws.
And if Daws is the goalie of the future for the Devils, Fitzgerald knows he shouldn’t have been with the team in the first place. That’s why he wants to look in another direction in terms of goaltending for the New Jersey Devils. Fitzgerald needs to bring in someone who has started and/or can handle the load. And not just a temporary fix. They need to find a goalie similar to the one they got when they traded Cory Schneider all those years ago.
But with the goalie market thin this trade deadline, it could be more of an off-season decision, but if the New Jersey Devils were to trade for a goalie, here are some of the candidates the team can search.
Joonas Korpisalo
If the Devils are looking for a long-term solution to their goaltender, they should consider acquiring Joonas Korpisalo at the deadline. And if they can’t do it now, then off season. Korpisalo is 27 and despite having a year off with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he’s the type of veteran the Devils need to watch. He has a career goals-against-average of 3.01 and a save percentage of .903. It is with Columbus that he has a 3.95 goals-against-average and .885 save percentage. These numbers are not the greatest. However, Korpisalo is more of a number one than a substitute and with the emergence of Elvis Merzlikins he is definitely available. The key will be the cost. Not to mention that Korpisalo is a UFA at the end of the season, the Devils might be able to sign him instead of giving up an asset.
Quick Jonathan
While Jonathan Quick is at the end of his career, bringing him in to be the replacement is not a bad idea. Especially if Quick is going to push Blackwood to be better. Look what Quick is up to this season with Cal Pettersen. Quick turned back time and put the Kings in position to qualify for the playoffs. Fast this season in 33 appearances has a 2.72 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. He’s the type of goalie the Devils could use. He is a veteran who has won and can be the starter when the team calls on him. Let’s say Blackwood would struggle, he could run with the number one position. Quick still has two years left on his contract, this year and next at a cap of $5.80 million. This is not bad. With the Kings in position for the playoffs, they probably won’t move him now, but who’s to say they’re not going in another direction this offseason.
