Ex-Panthers exec Mehta says Devils' season is Cup or bust
New Jersey's rookie GM spent six years in Florida's front office and brought the depth-first playbook north with him.
Sunny Mehta, the former Panthers assistant GM who took over the Devils in April, told NHL.com that anything short of a Stanley Cup will leave him disappointed. "Unless we win a Stanley Cup, no matter what happens, I'm probably going to be disappointed," he said.
Mehta spent six seasons in Florida, the last three as assistant GM and director of analytics, per NHL.com. He was in the front office for the 2024 and 2025 Cup runs. He grew up in Totowa, New Jersey, and once ran the Devils' analytics department under Lou Lamoriello and Ray Shero.
His summer plan was depth behind Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. He added Amadeus Lombardi, Declan Chisholm, Luke Evangelista and Anthony Mantha. "We needed to strengthen the rest of the lineup around Jack and Nico regardless of their health," he said.
Ferda read: that's a Sunrise sentence coming out of a Newark mouth. Mehta learned the Bill Zito playbook, where stars get you to April and the third line gets you through June.
Evangelista and Mantha made their Devils debuts in Monday's win over the Rangers, and the old core still scored. Panthers fans can root for him from a distance. Just not in May.