On Tuesday, the Devils introduced new general manager Sunny Mehta to the media, as well as the general public.<\/p>\n
You can watch the press conference in its entirety here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Judging from the comments here in previous articles as well as on social media, I think the reception to the Devils hiring of Mehta has generally been positive, but I was still curious to see his press conference as I don\u2019t recall ever listening to him speak before. I\u2019m familiar with Mehta\u2019s background, but I\u2019m not familiar with him as a person outside of his backstory as a Devils fan who grew up in Wyckoff, NJ. I wanted to see how he\u2019d handle himself in his first media session as general manager and the types of answers he would give to otherwise mundane (and sometimes, irrelevant) questions.<\/p>\n Needless to say, I came away impressed by how much thought he gave each answer and how he articulated his responses. He came across as someone who was comfortable addressing the media rather than treating it like a chore. He clearly was playing things close to the vest\u2026.perhaps because he genuinely hasn\u2019t made decisions yet on who will stay and who will go yet, but he also avoided any cringeworthy soundbytes like his predecessor might\u2019ve walked into by being too honest and direct. He didn\u2019t publicly bury any players or anything like that. If anything, he went out of his way to show that he grew up a Devils fan and a New Jersey native.<\/p>\n I will say that if you were going into this press conference looking for specific questions on the futures of specific players, you likely came away disappointed. Mehta said early in the press conference that there will be a period of assessment on players, coaches, and staff, and that will presumably come in the subsequent weeks and months to come before the real offseason work begins.<\/p>\n That said, he came across clearly as a man with a plan, and he surely has one. Just because he\u2019s not sharing the finer details of that plan with us in a public forum doesn\u2019t mean he doesn\u2019t have one. And after his press conference, I\u2019m looking forward to seeing him execute on that plan.<\/p>\n With all of that out of the way, here are some of my key takeaways from the press conference and the day in general.<\/p>\n Players and Coaches in Attendance<\/p>\n As Amanda Stein noted on Twitter, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Connor Brown, Brenden Dillon, Jake Allen, Stefan Noesen, and Johnathan Kovacevic were among the players in attendance. Head coach Sheldon Keefe was also in attendance.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know how much I would read into in terms of players that weren\u2019t there, but I do think its important for Hischier and Hughes, the leaders of the team, to be there as a show of public support. And I do think its notable in Hischier\u2019s case seeing as he\u2019s up for a contract this summer.<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t say that Hischier being there today is a sign that he\u2019s chomping at the bit to sign on the dotted line and cement himself as a Devil for life once he\u2019s eligible to do so on July 1. But the alternative way of looking at it would be if he was that disgusted with the organization as a whole, it would\u2019ve been really easy to stay away. It would\u2019ve been really easy to cite a scheduling conflict while he\u2019s sitting on a beach in the Caribbean sipping drinks. Hischier did not do that. He was there.<\/p>\n It\u2019s something to keep in mind as we inch closer to July 1st and we see where the Devils and Hischier are in regards to a long-term commitment.<\/p>\n On Drafting and Development<\/p>\n Mehta mentioned the now famous Jesper Bratt story that you\u2019ve probably heard ad nauseum by now. The one where Mehta\u2019s model had Bratt #3 out of all of the players in the 2016 class on his draft board.<\/p>\n He also mentioned that \u201cthere\u2019s probably other players I had in my Top 10 that are playing in Austria somewhere\u201d.<\/p>\n I bring that up because drafting is hard. It\u2019s really difficult to project what 18 year old young men are going to be years from now. Even the teams that we think are the best at drafting have more than their fair share of misses. If there was a simple answer as to why doesn\u2019t this team draft better, more teams would be better at it and we\u2019d have more than the \u201c20 to 25 percent\u201d of drafted players that Mehta referenced making it to the NHL.<\/p>\n Part of why I like the idea of hiring someone like Mehta as GM is the hope that he\u2019ll be able to repeat that success with Bratt in the future. But the truth of the matter is that there isn\u2019t a Bratt sitting there in the 6th round every year. We probably shouldn\u2019t be expect Mehta to find the needle in the proverbial haystack year after year, especially if the needle might not even be there in the first place. But at a bare minimum, I think its fair to expect the Devils to take more players in rounds 1, 2, and 3 that have the right skillsets to make them reasonable bets to eventually make it to the NHL.<\/p>\n I would\u2019ve liked to have heard more in regards to the Devils and their recent failures in drafting and development, particularly on the developmental side. Much has been written on this site in regards to poor draft selections, but its tougher to examine WHY draft picks fail. Is it because of the player? Did the organization fail them somewhere along the way? Or is it some combination of the two.<\/p>\n Mehta didn\u2019t offer much in regards to the Devils situation, which makes sense as he just got here and isn\u2019t ultimately responsible for any of their draft picks in the past. He did say (repeatedly) that one of Bill Zito\u2019s greatest strengths was aggregating information from a variety of sources in-house. Not just scouts, but also the analytics department and sports science. Mehta wants to bring that approach to Newark.<\/p>\n Of course, if this sounds like the collaborative effort that we thought the Devils were operating with under Fitzgerald\u2019s watch\u2026.well it certainly sounds like that from the outside looking in. This isn\u2019t a knock on Fitzgerald, but I do think some of the moves he had made the last few years that haven\u2019t worked have reverted back to the \u201c200 Hockey Men\u201d line of thinking. The type of thinking in regards to team building where you gotta \u201cget pucks in deep\u201d and be \u201ctough to play against\u201d and you subsequently start building your team in that manner because \u201cit\u2019s what works in the playoffs\u201d. I think you saw some of that with some of the recent reaches (Chase Stillman) that haven\u2019t worked out.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if Greg Wyshynski\u2019s report the Fitzgerald overrode the analytics department on the Ondrej Palat signing<\/a> is accurate. But I do know that most of the scouting department is likely to be overhauled anyways as they\u2019re going to be out of contract, and I\u2019m fairly confident that over time, the Devils will get better players more frequently using Mehta\u2019s approach\u2026.whatever it is\u2026.than they did the previous regime did.<\/p>\n If it were up to me, I\u2019d overhaul everything on the pro and amateur scouting side. I think there\u2019s enough examples in recent years of what hasn\u2019t worked between poor selections, stalled development, and a stagnant AHL affiliate that has consistently been unable to provide any help. We\u2019ll see what direction Mehta ultimately goes in though once he starts bringing \u201chis guys\u201d aboard.<\/p>\n Did Mehta Tip His Hand that Sheldon Keefe is Safe For Now?<\/p>\n Considering Mehta is a former poker player, he might want to do a better job with his tells because I think he tipped his hand here.<\/p>\n When answering a question about what he views the identity of the Devils to be as a team moving forward, Mehta said \u201cI\u2019ll talk with Sheldon about (it) in the upcoming offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n Mehta said earlier in the press conference that \u201cAs for the short term, going forward, there\u2019s going to be a period of assessment of all players, coaches and staff. No decisions are made on anything pertaining to that (right now).\u201d<\/p>\n One would view those two quotes in isolation and note that they seem to be contradicting each other. And it would\u2019ve been nice had somebody in the press corps had asked the obvious follow up question whether or not that means Sheldon Keefe is safe for now. But reading between the lines, I don\u2019t know how one interprets that former statement other than operating under the assumption that Keefe will remain as the head coach of the Devils moving forward. Why would one talk with the head coach of the team about what they think the identity of the team going forward should be if you intend on hiring your own coach to replace him? If you didn\u2019t want the coach around, wouldn\u2019t you simply say that we thank him for his service, but are choosing to go in a different direction.<\/p>\n If I had to bet, I think Keefe is staying.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think that\u2019s necessarily a bad thing either.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important for the head coach and general manager to be lock step in their vision for the team. Mehta went as far as to call the relationship \u201cparamount\u201d. And the easiest way to accomplish that would be letting the general manager pick his head coach rather than inheriting one from the previous regime.<\/p>\n One can note that Keefe has historically been a coach that is open to listening to the analytics team to try to put the team in the best position he can. One can also note that Sheldon Keefe is a good head coach with success in this league, note the lack of quality alternatives out there at the moment, look at the adjustments the Devils made in their style of play post-Olympics where they looked significantly better than they did earlier in the season, and come to the conclusion that the smartest move for now is to simply not make a move.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say that Mehta can\u2019t change his mind a year or two from now as he continues to reshape the roster. Or if a better option becomes available.<\/p>\n Only Mehta (and maybe David Blitzer) knows what the Devils intend to do, but it would appear to me on the outside that Keefe is staying for the time being.<\/p>\n The Devils Identity and If They Are Still a \u201cWin Now\u201d Team<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to gloss over the identity question, as I think that\u2019s an important one, so let\u2019s circle back to that.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, personally, I don\u2019t really necessarily gravitate towards thinking that you have to play a certain style to win. Obviously, we played a somewhat idiosyncratic style with the Panthers, but I mean, the Lightning played a considerably different style than we did, and they won two Cups. And, so, I think we have to play to whatever it is our identity is and not do it the other way where we put the cart before the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n I think one of the biggest issues with the NHL in general is that too many front office executives take the wrong lessons away from the successful teams.<\/p>\n It would be easy to point to what Florida did well in their Cup run and say \u201cwe need to recreate that\u201d. After all, they\u2019re big and physical and hit people. They get to the tough areas of the ice. They win along the boards. And most importantly, they won.<\/p>\n All of that might be true, but Florida also had a lot of really good hockey players. Just like how Tampa and Colorado and Vegas and other Stanley Cup champions before them also had a lot of really good hockey players. And like Mehta said, there\u2019s more than one way to succeed in this league.<\/p>\n You might not be able to win on skill alone, but if the Devils of the last couple years are an example, you\u2019re not going to win on sandpaper and grit alone either. You need the right balance. More importantly, you need to lean into the strengths of your best players and what they do well instead of trying to neuter them. The Devils had gotten away from being a team that comes after you wave after wave on the rush, and one would hope as they try to acquire more talent, they lean more towards what made them successful a few years ago.<\/p>\n When asked if he views the Devils as a contender more in the short-term or the long-term, Mehta said that he views them as both and his goal is to instill a process to help them win that is repeatable.<\/p>\n Of course, Mehta didn\u2019t dive into any specifics, as he often referred to this only being \u201chis second day on the job\u201d and that there was an assessment period that needs to play out. But he certainly didn\u2019t sound like someone who intends on doing a retool or rebuild of any sort.<\/p>\n Now, that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re just going to run it back with 90% of the same roster they had this past season either. I\u2019m sure Mehta (and perhaps Keefe as well if he\u2019s staying) has an idea already of which players they want to move on from and which ones they view as pieces moving forward. Not to mention that Mehta is inheriting a roster with a lot of players with some form of no-trade protection, bad contracts, or both. There might be instances where his hands are tied in the short-term because he can\u2019t move on from the mistakes from the previous regime as quickly as he\u2019d like to.<\/p>\n But I think we are looking at a roster that is due for a shakeup to some extent anyways. I don\u2019t know what the future of Dougie Hamilton, Simon Nemec, or Dawson Mercer are, and it would\u2019ve been nice had someone asked the next general manager what he thought of those players, but would I be surprised if Mehta took a sledgehammer to our blueline and bottom six to build a team that fits his vision better than the one he inherited? No, it would not.<\/p>\n If one is looking for something more tangible than that when it comes to the Devils and their intentions, David Blitzer did confirm when asked that he intends for the Devils to continue spending to the salary cap ceiling as it continues to increase over the next few years. So any concerns about the Devils operating with some sort of internal cap can be put to rest for now.<\/p>\n Mehta was asked a lot about poker, which is understandable given his background. As a (bad) amateur poker player myself, I can certainly relate to a lot of the poker references he made.<\/p>\n Consider this quote for a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI think most long-term poker players are what, in the business, we call \u201ctight and aggressive,\u201d which means in some ways you\u2019re more patient than other poker players in the sense that you don\u2019t play garbage cards \u2014 have the discipline and the patience to wait for your moment. When you have that moment, you\u2019re extremely aggressive \u2014 you have to have the guts to do what it takes when that moment is right to win the hand, and I\u2019d say that\u2019s exactly how I view this.\u201d<\/p>\n I think this is the correct way to approach this. And I say this as someone who was very critical of Tom Fitzgerald and his tendency to sit on his hands for months on end while a season would spiral out of control and do nothing.<\/p>\n In poker, you might win occasionally playing hands like nine four offsuit. But more often than not, if you continually play those hands and play it like you have the nuts when you flop a pair of fours, you\u2019re probably going to lose more often than you win. After all, its just a pair of fours at the end of the day.<\/p>\n Mehta made this point a few times but he mentioned that Bill Zito essentially was an aggregator of information before he made a decision and that that is what he wants to do as GM. Again, I\u2019m not saying that Fitzgerald didn\u2019t consult his braintrust before making decisions. I certainly didn\u2019t love Blitzer\u2019s answer about how there wasn\u2019t a moment last season where he woke up one morning and declared that there needed to be a change when there were plenty of those mornings this season<\/a>.<\/p>\n But I do think you need to be willing to pivot when what you\u2019re seeing isn\u2019t working either. Trusting what your eyes are indeed telling you and not being a slave to what your process or model says.<\/p>\n Conversely, when an opportunity presents itself to be \u201ctight and aggressive\u201d and make a move that will help you win, you want to see the GM be all in and aggressive in pursuing that.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not saying Fitzgerald wasn\u2019t \u201call in\u201d when it came to, say, when Quinn Hughes became available. But one would have to believe coming away from that press conference that had Sunny Mehta been in charge of the Devils, they would\u2019ve been in a better position to get him between having the right players to trade away, having the flexibility with the salary cap to make a move like that on a whim, and the gumption to seal the deal. And had they done that, they might still be playing hockey games this season.<\/p>\n All of that brings me to my next point.<\/p>\n I think some people have painted Mehta with the broad brush of he\u2019s the \u201canalytics guy\u201d and he\u2019s not going to do anything that his model or Excel spreadsheet is going up against.<\/p>\n It\u2019s probably a little premature to say that\u2026.the truth is we don\u2019t know how he\u2019ll react when he has to make a free agent signing or a waiver claim or a trade or fire a coach. We don\u2019t know how he\u2019s going to act when he has to look someone in the face and tell them why they\u2019re being waived or traded. I assume because he came across eloquently in his press conference that he has some tact when it comes to the human element but will he be cutthroat when it comes to cleaning up some of the mess he has inherited? It remains to be seen.<\/p>\n