Devils Fitzgerald's Next Step is to Re-Sign Dawson Mercer

The New Jersey Devils have made many impactful moves before and at the start of NHL Free Agency.

General Manager Tom Fitzgerald found his true starter in Jacob Markstrom while shoring up the defense with Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon.

He also brought back some familiar faces, such as Tomas Tatar and Stefan Noesen.

However, lost in the shuffle of all the news is that Fitzgerald has yet to re-sign anyone he made qualifying offers to, including two-time 20-goal scorer Dawson Mercer .

In 264 games, the former first-rounder (18th overall, 2020) has 64 goals and 131 points.

The 22-year-old just finished his entry contract, which paid him $874,167 for three seasons, but with bonuses, he's already earned roughly $3.9 million in the NHL.

As one of the key members of a young core led by Jake Hughes, Nico Heisher, and Jesper Bratt, Fitzgerald plans to start chipping away at these RFAs now that the opening days of Free Agency have passed.

Regarding Mercer's future, the Devils' GM realizes he will be part of the long-term future, and the term will come down to salary since "we only have so much money to spend."

According to PuckPedia, New Jersey has roughly $4,976,103 in cap space and has yet to offer deals to other RFA's like Nico Daws and Nolan Foote.

Fitzgerald is developing a plan to keep his young players in Newark for the foreseeable future while building a competitive team.

His press conference is here if you are curious about his complete discussion about Mercer and other RFAs.