Control the Process

Mehta won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers in 2024 and ’25. And on both occasions, on his day with the Cup he brought it to New Jersey.

In 2024 he brought the Cup to Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, where he played high school hockey. Last year, he brought the Cup to Hockey in New Jersey and Ice Hockey in Harlem.

“I think as happy as everybody was, I definitely got a lot of chirps, ‘You’re bringing this here with Florida, why don’t you bring it here with New Jersey?’” he laughed. “I’ve kept that in the back of my mind.”

Ultimately, that’s what drives Mehta.

“What drives me most is there’s obviously just no better feeling than lifting that Stanley Cup. It’s indescribable,” he said.

Winning a championship may be the end goal. But it isn’t the only goal. When Mehta was asked by a media member if the Devils will be in a position to contend for a Stanley Cup in the short term or if it’s a longer-term project, Mehta responded: “Both.”

“That’s my honest answer. That’s how I have to approach this,” he continued. “I absolutely think we have pieces. We have the framework to win right away. But I also very much care about the long term. My goal is to instill a process that’s repeatable over and over and over again so that the success is sustained. So, to me, it’s not one or the other. It’s absolutely both.”

But he also understands that 31 teams every year have their season end in disappointment.

“Look, winning’s hard,” he said. “In some ways, there’s a lot of parallels to poker in this, where you can kind of do everything right and still lose. It’s a lesson you have to learn as a poker player, where you can study the game, you can do everything right, you can get your money in as an 80/20 favorite, and you’re going to lose. You’re supposed to lose 20 percent of the time. And I think there are a lot of parallels to hockey. And the learning lesson there is that you just have to focus on what you can control.”

For Mehta, what he and his staff aim to control is instilling the right process.

“My goal for this front office is quite simple,” he said. “I want to make smart, objective and educated decisions, and I want to do it over and over and over again. For that reason, I believe I am the right person to implement that agenda given my past experiences and successes.”