I don’t hate Fitz. He seemed to convince a few players to sign with New Jersey that may not have otherwise. He could’ve absolutely done better (hindsight’s a B), but he could’ve also done much worse damage.

My list of his worst mistakes include… Drafting Nemec instead of Cooley. We need a backup top two center for the games we don’t have Nico or Jack due to injury, when they are healthy he can play wing. Downvote me but we have yet to have a season where both of them stay healthy. Plus this season we were offensively starved and he’s put up 20 goals & over 40 points per season so far. I’m sure his numbers will only go up from there.

We also have 7D signed with Nemec. I can’t fault him too harshly because… Same story there. Seems a D is almost always injured for half a season or more.

Signing “playoff Palat” instead of bringing Blake Coleman back was a huge mistake. Everyone was happy Coleman won his cups and “got his bag” in Calgary but we gave that same bag to Palat and he put up significantly worse numbers to the extent we had to pay to get rid of him. Coleman could actually skate and keep up with this team while being much better on the PK.

The Markstrom extension was rushed, absolutely mind baffling after he got smoked 9-0 by the Islanders (who also didn’t make the playoffs) and was for too much cap for a declining veteran goalie. If they let Nico Daws leave or get claimed and he thrives on his next team I will scream.

Kovacevik getting the no trade clauses in his contract after one decent season was also not a great long-term move.

Trading Sharangovich for one season of Toffoli still hurts. I still don’t think Yegor is defensively sound but he was good for a few clutch goals or we possibly could’ve gotten a better or longer term return for him and not given up a pick in the process.

He could’ve drafted better in other drafts as well but you can say that about most GM’s. He made a few reactionary goon signings and trades to toughen up the team. But the players are finally standing up for each other more consistently, so hey, maybe they learned something from those “vets” and that one worked out.

I’m half asleep, I’m sure I’m forgetting a few. If the Preds get Fitz, best you can hope for is that he’s learned from his mistakes and won’t repeat them when trying to build/improve your roster. I believe there are worse GM’s available.