The New Jersey Devils didn’t waste any time, hiring the first general manager of this offseason. After parting ways with Tom Fitzgerald, they moved quickly to hire Sunny Mehta.
Mehta is the perfect candidate on paper. He loves the Devils, growing up in New Jersey and rooting for his hometown team. He’s also one of the architects of the Florida Panthers dynasty, helping them make the Stanley Cup Final three times, winning twice. This team was dominant and something everyone in the league wants to emulate.
So, as Mehta goes on his media tour, everyone wants to know if he’s going to bring that bruising style the Panthers played on their way to two rings to the Devils. He spoke to Jeff Marek on The Sheet on Thursday, and he didn’t give up his tell.
"I don’t know that for me it’s necessarily a stylistic thing. I’m pretty matter-of-fact that the point in hockey is to win, and you win by outscoring the other team. You can do that by allowing fewer goals and you can do that by scoring more goals. Frankly, what I want is to outscore the other team. I want players that help us outscore the other team. I want a roster full of players that, in the aggregate, outscore other teams."Sunny Mehta, The Sheet with Jeff Marek
So... Mehta wants players who score more than the team they are facing. That narrows things down.
Truly, this is where the poker player comes in. It comes off like a politician, say enough good that we get excited without giving away the goose or even focusing on the negative. Half the time, it sounds like he’s not answering the question.
However, there is something to take here. Mehta is going to find scoring this offseason. That will help the Devils in huge ways, but there are only tweaks that are needed.
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