That was quick.

On Thursday night, April 16th, the New Jersey Devils announced they have hired Sunny Mehta, 48, as their new General Manager. Mehta is the sixth GM in franchise history and succeeds Tom Fitzgerald, who was fired on Monday, April 6th. In other words, they didn’t waste any time. 

Mehta is a Jersey guy, having grown up watching and rooting for the Devils. He even played varsity hockey at Ramapo High School. 

“This is a dream come true for a New Jersey kid, who grew up watching Devils’ practices just 20 minutes away in Totowa,” Mehta said in the press release. “After meeting with David Blitzer, Josh Harris, Bob Myers, and other members of the organization, I knew this was the place I wanted to be. Thank you to Vinnie Viola, Bill Zito and the entire Florida Panthers organization for a fantastic six years and for the opportunity to take the next step in my professional career. New Jersey has a tremendous young core that will be looking to get back to being a contender, a complement of young assets and draft picks, and a passionate fan base hungry for success. I was fortunate enough to watch the New Jersey Devils raise three Stanley Cups and am excited to get to work to return to that level.”

A dream come true indeed. And a homecoming too. After all, Mehta began The NHL portion of his career as the Director of Hockey Analytics for the Devils back in 2014. He made his bones as one of the first executives to have a heavy focus on Analytics. His first tour of duty with the Devils lasted until 2017-18 before he eventually joined the Washington Capitals as a consultant during the 2019-20 season. 

It was after his stint in Washington that Mehta joined the Florida Panthers as their Vice President of Hockey Strategy & Intelligence. During his time in Florida, Mehta worked closely with Panthers’ GM Bill Zito and eventually became the team’s Assistant General Manager and Head of Analytics. It was during that time that Mehta helped the Panthers make three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final, winning the last two in a row. 

And just like any other successful executive, Mehta’s name was bandied about as a potential GM one day. That day is today. 

“I’m thrilled to welcome Sunny and his wife, Nicole, back home to New Jersey,” Devils’ Managing Partner David Blitzer said in the team’s press release. “We quickly realized this job was in high demand and were incredibly fortunate to meet with many qualified candidates. Sunny’s familiarity with our organization and experience with a two-time Stanley Cup-winning team are characteristics that will serve as a foundation for future success. Our expectations are to be a perennial playoff team and compete for the Stanley Cup, and I look forward to Sunny leading us there.”

Mehta will need to hit the ground running as this is an important offseason for the Devils. He needs to decide whether or not to keep Head Coach Sheldon Keefe. He needs to sit down with team Captain Nico Hischier and (hopefully) hammer out a contract extension when Hischier becomes eligible on July 1st. 

The draft is June 26-27 and the Devils have a pick that’s likely to fall in the neighborhood of 12th overall. Decisions will need to be made on scouts and other front office executives. Plus, he’ll need to figure out how to cure the team’s issues with consistency and injuries; the two biggest factors why New Jersey didn’t qualify for the postseason this year. 

Overall, it’s a big win for a team that didn’t have many of those on the ice this year. But with Mehta now at the helm, that should change next season, especially since expectations will be sky high.