Sunny Mehta Returns as Devils' GM

0:00On April 17th, the New Jersey Devils just named Sunny Metta their new general manager, dropping the news on Thursday. This comes less than two weeks after they show Thomas Gerald the door on April 6th. At 48, Metta circling back to the Devils where he built their analytics game from 2014 to 2018 as director of hockey. Analytics, kickstarting the league's first full-time data crew. Metta bounced to the Florida Panthers in 2021 as vice president of hockey strategy. Then leveled up to assist in GM and head of analytics. Last season. Right after that promo, Florida snagged back-to-back Stanley Cups. Before hockey, he crushed it as a data scientist as Zeus Analytics advising six MOB teams plus the caps and coyotes and yeah, he even grinded as a pro poker player and musician. For Devils fans, this feels like homecoming gold. Do grew up 20 minutes away in Ottawa, peeping practices as a kid. But Metta steps into a squad that slipped from 16th to 21st in the standings over two years, landing 7th in the Metro and missing.

1:05Playoffs for the second time in three. Now, he's got an navigated tricky roster with 13 players locked into trade protection, including five defensemen for at least two more seasons. Plus sorting, pending restricted free agent Simon Nemek, who's just 22. Big call to on coach Sheldon Keefe, who's helmed both down years and not many free agents to flip the script. As the Devils 6 GM ever, Metta's got the analytics edge to rebuild the ship eyes on turning that slide around come next season. This has been NHL News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story.