The New Jersey Devils got their man. Last week, the Devils announced the hiring of Sunny Mehta as the organization’s sixth general manager. It’s a dream come true for many Devils fans, as well as Mehta himself, who grew up in New Jersey as a big Devils fan. He was one of the most sought-after candidates during this hiring cycle, with the Toronto Maple Leafs also reportedly showing a lot of interest in Mehta. But New Jersey came away with the coveted Mehta, and while we’re still in the honeymoon phase
with the Devils’ newest GM, the hard work will begin soon.
Mehta is scheduled to meet with the media for his introductory press conference tomorrow. Presumably, someone from ownership (most likely David Blitzer, as Josh Harris currently has his hands full with, uh, other matters) will be part of the festivities as well. In a lot of ways, press conferences like this can be lacking in true substance, with a lot of fluff and pageantry taking the place of genuinely important information. That being said, there’s always at least a little room to ask good questions and get relevant info. Jared recently went over some of the pressing matters that face the club this offseason, and it’s now up to Mehta to tackle those issues, among others. So with that being the case, I wanted to lay out some of the questions I want asked of both Mehta and ownership tomorrow. Right off the bat, I do have to acknowledge that many of these hypothetical questions will either be met with a non-answer, or with a firm “no comment”. Still, in my opinion they should be asked.
I’m also going to forgo asking him a lot of questions about individual players, as we’d be here all day if we included tons of micro-level questions. So no questions about Jacob Markstrom or Dawson Mercer or Timo Meier or many others, though I acknowledge they would be important to ask about. We’ll try to keep this as macro as possible, though we’ll leave some room for a handful of questions about specific players.
So let’s get to it. Here are the questions I want asked of Sunny Mehta and the Devils tomorrow:
Q: We all know of your upbringing as a New Jersey native and Devils fan, but putting that aside for a moment, what about the team as currently constructed drew you to this job?
I would love to know what Mehta thinks about the current team. He might give us the same empty platitudes that most GMs do, but it would be interesting to see if he gives us any info on his evaluation of the Devils right now, which may give us insight into what direction he will choose to take.
Q: On the opposite end of the spectrum, in your estimation, what went wrong for the Devils this past season? And how do you plan to implement change?
He’s less than a week into the job, so I’m sure he hasn’t had a chance to fully dig into the Devils’ 2025-26 season yet. Still, while with the Florida Panthers, he must’ve done some amount of scouting on all opposition, including New Jersey. I’d be curious to hear his opinion on what the biggest issues with the roster are, and how he intends to fix things.
Q: Nico Hischier becomes eligible for an extension in a few months. Have you had any talks with him and his agent about a potential new deal yet? If not, when do you intend to do so?
Nico Hischier’s future is perhaps the biggest question facing the organization this offseason. Any info Mehta could provide here would be greatly appreciated.
Q: What about young players that are eligible for extensions right now, such as Arseny Gritsyuk and Simon Nemec? Have you had any discussions with their camps yet?
These two aren’t as important as Hischier’s future, but unlike Hischier, Gritsyuk and Nemec are (restricted) free agents come July 1. As such, they need new contracts (or to be traded) now. I want answers from Mehta on this.
Q: What can you tell us about the future of Sheldon Keefe and/or his coaching staff?
I don’t expect Keefe to be in attendance tomorrow (how awkward would that be?), but I do expect an update on his future with the club soon. Mehta won’t come right out and say what he’s actually thinking, but he might tip his hand just a little bit.
Q: What are some of the most important things you learned from the Florida Panthers organization?
The Florida Panthers are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, at least for another couple of months. Even though they missed the postseason this year, that was mostly due to terrible goaltending, a ridiculous run of injuries, and general fatigue after two very, very long seasons, and they are still considered one of the premier organizations in the NHL. Mehta spent the last six seasons in that organization, including the last three as an assistant general manager. It stands to reason that he learned some valuable lessons from an organization that well-run, so whatever he could share would be pretty relevant.
Q: During your time in Florida, the team was known for both unearthing hidden gems (such as Gustav Forsling), AND going big game hunting (such as the Matthew Tkachuk trade). Do you believe one of those angles of team-building is better and/or easier than the other? Or are both equally feasible?
I admit this is a very context-dependent question. Opportunities to unearth gems or go big game hunting depend on what else is happening around the league. The Tkachuk trade, for example, took a bunch of different things all happening at once with remarkable timing. It was a perfect storm that you can’t replicate at will. That said, I would still love to hear Mehta’s answer, because what he says might clue us into how he plans to build the team. Will he lean more towards the smaller moves that could hit big? Or might he try to focus more on swinging a massive deal for someone like Quinn Hughes or Connor Hellebuyck this offseason if the opportunity presented itself? I’m sure if he could do both, he would, but I want to know if he has a preference between the two options.
Q: One of the big narratives surrounding the Florida Panthers’ success is the fact that the team is located in a state that has no income tax, giving them a financial advantage when it comes to signing players to contracts. In your opinion, was this actually a significant factor in contract negotiations during your time with the Panthers?
Please understand, I don’t want this asked simply because of my own personal curiosity or because I want to feed into a narrative. I think this question is relevant because, if this really did play a role for the Panthers, then a big weapon that Mehta was able to wield in Florida will not be available to him in New Jersey. The follow-up if he says it did play a big role would be how he plans to make up for that competitive disadvantage in New Jersey.
Q: How do you intend to build your front office? What sort of qualities will you be looking for in your staff?
Tom Fitzgerald may be gone, but a lot of his front office staff is not. I have to imagine Mehta will clean house in a lot of ways, from his assistant general managers to his scouts to his player development team, and beyond. As such, I’ll be very curious to hear what he’s looking for in a front office, and how he intends to structure his staff.
Q: Along those lines, there have been reports that you will be the top hockey operations decision-maker for this organization, with no President of Hockey Operations being hired alongside you. Can you confirm these reports?
Pretty straightforward. I just want to get an answer to this on the record. I would also like to know if this was a demand that he himself made while interviewing, or if this was a decision by Devils ownership. Speaking of…
Q: (For ownership) In the press release announcing Mehta’s hiring, David Blitzer said, “We quickly realized this job was in high demand and were incredibly fortunate to meet with many qualified candidates”. Who were those candidates? And what did the overall search process look like?
As I indicate in the question, this one is actually for ownership, not Mehta. Personally, I entered this offseason with Mehta atop my wish list for the GM job, so it’s hard for me to complain all that much about a process that got me exactly what I wanted. Still, I would love to hear about all these qualified candidates they met with, and why in the end they decided to go with Mehta. Their answer could give us an idea as to how and when they might fully stock the rest of the front office.
Q: Last year, Peter Baugh of The Athletic reported that, in the runup to the 2016 entry draft, your own statistical model had Jesper Bratt ranked third overall among draft-eligible players. What can you tell us about that, and what can you tell us about how you’ve tweaked and built on your model(s) over the years?
I can’t resist asking the Jesper Bratt draft ranking question. But beyond just asking him to give us the details of that tale, the Bratt story serves as a good transition to asking about Mehta’s analytics background. When you hire someone like Mehta to be your GM, you’re doing so because you believe in his data-driven approach. I would love to know how Mehta’s models have evolved and adapted over time. Surely his statistical processes aren’t the same as they were 10 years ago. They can’t be, otherwise they’d be woefully obsolete. So I would love a peek behind the analytics curtain to see how he’s been curating his data, and how he plans to continue being on the cutting edge of the industry.
Q: (For Ownership) Back in January, the New Jersey State Legislature approved a $300M tax break for the Prudential Center. Assuming the money goes through with no other vetoes or delays, how will the organization use that money, and what benefits will this provide to New Jersey Devils fans?
Again, another question for ownership. And this one does not have to do with the team on the ice, although I guess it’s possible some of this money could be used to bolster team facilities and such, theoretically making the Devils a more desirable destination. Either way, I really do feel as though this is very important to ask since it’s rare to get ownership in a press conference setting like this. I’ve been going to Devils games at The Rock since it opened, including many this past season, and I can confirm that the arena is absolutely in need of repairs and renovations. That being said, when it involves taxpayer money, regardless of your politics, I think we can all agree that we should have full transparency into the process. According to NJ Spotlight News (linked above), when this bill passed in January, Devils President Jake Reynolds stated, “…renovations would include upgraded electrical, lighting, flooring and concessions. The work would be done in phases during the Devils’ off-season”. That’s reasonable transparency, but we need more specifics than that. And we also need status updates every step of the way, as well as a full accounting of every dollar spent. At least, that’s how it should be in an ideal world. If our tax dollars are going to be used to improve the arena, the least we are owed is information as to how this will improve the in-game experience for Devils fans (and maybe even the team itself) and why each piece of work is necessary for our sake.
There are many other questions that could be asked of Sunny Mehta and Devils ownership, but to me, these are the most important ones as far as how Mehta will sculpt this team moving forward. I will say though, something else I will be keeping an eye out for during this press conference is how Mehta actually handles himself. Aside from his obvious shortcomings in managing a roster, something else Tom Fitzgerald was bad at was press conferences. He was awkward much of the time, and had a tendency to, frankly, be a little too honest and give away leverage publicly in numerous press conferences over the years. So as a Devils fan, in all honesty while I would appreciate answers to the questions above, there’s a big part of me that doesn’t actually want answers to them for the sake of not giving too much away. “Winning” a press conference does not necessarily make one a good general manager, just like “losing” one does not necessarily make one a bad GM. Still, coming across as competent, well-prepared, and articulate while not giving too much away can be a big benefit to a GM, and since this will be Mehta’s first presser as a top decision-maker, I will be very curious to see how he handles himself.
Now that I’ve had my say, it’s your turn. What are some questions that you would ask Mehta? What about ownership? Is there anything you will be looking out for specifically at this press conference? As always, thanks for watching!
