Examining the Devils' Potential GM Options for 2026-27

Should New Jersey Devils' General Manager Tom Fitzgerald get canned in or after 2025-26, here are some potential replacements and why they make sense.

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Time might be running out for current New Jersey Devils’ General Manager Tom Fitzgerald, whose seat is ever-warming after each and every game. He inherited a pristine core of players with as much talent as any other team in the league, had one strong year of prioritizing their identities and strengths as players, and subsequently ruined that over three consecutive seasons of trying to construct a roster conducive to “playoff hockey.” The result? A team that tumbled all the way from 5th and 8th in 5v5 scoring in 2022-23 and 2023-24 to 25th and 32nd in 2024-25 and 2025-26. A team that struggles to break the puck out of their own end. A team that went from franchise-record season to out of the playoff picture altogether.

With that, it’s likely time to move on. I wouldn’t anticipate a change happening mid-season, but I truly would be shocked if there wasn’t a major change in the off-season, one that takes Fitzgerald out of a position of power within the organization.

The great news is that this is an excellent off-season for such a change, as there are multiple appealing options who are likely looking for a job of this caliber. Let’s talk about some potential replacement options should Fitzgerald face the music after the 2025-26 season fully transpires:

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Sunny Mehta

Bar-none, the most appealing potential GM option that the Devils could pursue is current Assistant General Manager of the Florida Panthers, Sunny Mehta.

Mehta has served as the AGM of the Panthers for the last three seasons, where he has simultaneously served as their Director of Analytics as well. Prior to that, he spent two years as Florida’s Vice President of Hockey Strategy & Intelligence, a role he was hired in three years after his stint as New Jersey’s Director of Hockey Analytics.

A little-known fact about the Florida Panthers is that they’ve been on the forefront of analytic use in the NHL. Current Panthers’ GM Bill Zito met Mehta at an MIT Sports Analytics Conference and instantly made him the head of analytics when he was named the General Manager of the team a couple of years later. Zito has since heralded Mehta as one of the most influential members of the organization, which in and of itself has been exemplified by the number of analytics-focused moves and signings the Panthers have executed over the seasons.

Jeff Marek, on the What Chaos! podcast back in June, noted that Zito never makes a move without approval from Mehta, which not only is a hilarious counterpoint to the troves of individuals who insist that the Panthers are an anti-analytics hockey fan’s dream organization, but is a testament to the influence that Mehta has had over the Panthers’ overall trajectory over the last few seasons.

Acquiring Matthew Tkachuk for a career-year Johnathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar was one of the biggest hockey trades of the modern era, and one that had clear analytical backing. The same can be said for identifying and trading for or signing low-cost, high-impact players like Nate Schmidt, Evan Rodrigues, Gustav Forsling, and Niko Mikkola over the years. The architecture of the team as currently constructed has certainly allotted Zito his flowers, but the importance of Mehta in a decision-making role has never been understated.

The Wyckoff, New Jersey native has a clear track record of helping shape an organization to an identity, aiding in the decision-making of an organization that won back-to-back Stanley Cups on the backs of strong puck possession numbers and analytics. He has proven to be unshy of considering massive shake-ups to better the organization, has proven to identify smart buy-low targets and bargain bin free agents who have a substantial impact, and already has a history with the Devils’ ownership. In the event that he’s available for the job, it should be his.

Tyler Dellow

Tyler Dellow was a part of the Devils’ front office as recently as two seasons ago, where he served as the Senior Vice President of Hockey Analytics before getting the Assistant General Manager role with the Carolina Hurricanes. In his current role, he is in charge of “overseeing data analysis and compliance with the NHL’s salary cap and collective bargaining agreement,” according to the Hurricanes’ PR department. In other words, he’s in charge of their analytics and salary cap management.

The Hurricanes have long been one of the most analytically inclined organizations in the league, and to great success as one of the most consistently dominant forces on the ice night in and night out. On top of that, their salary cap management is immaculate. Everyone on their roster with exception to Freddie Andersen (who is on his way out of the organization), Brandon Bussi (who is in contract negotiations), Alexander Nikishin (who is an RFA), and Mike Reilly (who is their seventh defenseman) is signed through at least next season, and they have nearly nine million in cap space regardless.

Everyone in their core is locked up long-term — Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Nikolaj Ehlers, Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven, K’Andre Miller, and Jaccob Slavin are all under contract until at least 2031, with Andrei Svechnikov on his deal through 2028. They have become experts in doling out medium-long-term contracts to players well worth their values in order to lower the AAV. As an example, William Carrier is getting paid $2 million a year until 2030. Eric Robinson is getting paid $1.7 million for the next three seasons after 2025-26. Sean Walker is getting paid $3.6 million until 2029. Their worst contract, Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s $4.82 million AAV deal that runs until 2030, was signed prior to Dellow’s arrival.

Any way you spin it, the Hurricanes’ cap situation is pristine. Dellow is a huge reason why the deals they have signed in the last two years are structured the way they are, and is a huge reason why the Hurricanes’ cap sheet will be impeccable for years to come, allowing them to extend their Cup contention window endlessly and allowing them to be players in any and every major free agent or trade target. That track record, combined with his prior history with the Devils’ ownership, should make him a strong target for the next GM if Mehta is unavailable or uninterested.

John Chayka

I would be surprised if John Chayka’s name didn’t leave a sour taste in many a mouth following his sudden departure from the Arizona Coyotes organization and subsequent one-year suspension from the NHL in 2021. For context, Chayka was cited as pursuing “opportunities with other clubs” while under contract with the Coyotes. It was later revealed that those “other clubs” included New Jersey — Chayka was the preferred choice were he to become available over then-interim GM Tom Fitzgerald. Chayka put out a press release indicting Arizona ownership, as the relationship between the two parties soured when he was denied an early release from his contract. Gary Bettman adjudicated the happenings months later, when it was released that Chayka would be suspended from an NHL role for the entire 2021 season. Later on, it was found that Chayka and the Coyotes violated draft protocol by having a private scouting combines for their prospective draftees, which culminated in them losing a 2020 second-round selection and 2021 first-round selection.

So, why would anyone want Chayka as the next GM of the New Jersey Devils? Well, for one, there’s the prior interest that the Devils’ ownership group showed in his services. It was obviously mutual, as Chayka pushed for a release from his contractual obligations with the Coyotes. Beyond that, the youngest individual ever to be named to an NHL General Manager position had a track record of making savvy moves under tight salary cap constraints. The first season in which he didn’t have those constraints, when the organization was purchased by billionaire Alex Meruelo, the Coyotes made the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

In that season, Devils fans may remember Chayka trading for Taylor Hall, fresh off his MVP season. Chayka moved off of a first-rounder, third-rounder, Kevin Bahl, Nick Merkley, and Nate Schnarr for a player who would contribute heavily for their first playoff berth in nearly a decade. He acquired Phil Kessel, who scored 42 goals and 133 total points in his 208 games in a Coyotes uniform, and a fourth-round pick for Alex Galchenyuk and Pierre-Oliver Joseph. He acquired Darcy Kuemper, who had his best career years in Arizona, for a then-backup Scott Wedgewood and 20 games of Tobias Reider. There were a number of lesser trades that certainly improved the Coyotes over the years.

So, sure, there is almost certainly some distaste in some higher-ranking NHL individuals. However, the previous interest shown by Devils’ ownership combined with a track record of being able to perform well under tight salary constraints and a willingness to buy big when allotted extra spending room in order to build a playoff team are both genuinely appealing. It’s a long-shot, but one I would certainly consider should neither of the aforementioned candidates get the gig.

It’s clear that the Devils need to prioritize someone willing to adapt along with hockey as it gears toward the future, rather than simply settling for another Old Hockey Man who still treats the game as if it’s the 90s or early 2000s. Mehta is a clear top choice, but Dellow and Chayka both present as appealing alternatives.

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Should-Be No-Gos

There are a few executives who are likely looking for work, but who the Devils should not be looking to take the reins as the next general manager.

Anyone Internal

It has become clear that an outside voice is a necessity for the future. Anyone currently within the Devils’ organization should be met with a firm “no thank you” if they throw their hat in the ring. That includes Martin Brodeur, Dan MacKinnon, and Kate Madigan. It especially includes Chuck Fletcher, the current senior advisor to Fitzgerald, who was arguably one of the worst general managers in Philadelphia Flyers history and would likely be champing at the bit for a new GM opportunity.

Some of Fletcher’s most notable moves in the five years he was general manager of the Flyers include sending the 14th overall pick, a second-round pick, and Robert Hagg for Rasmus Ristolainen, trading a second, third, and fourth-rounder for Tony DeAngelo, and attaching a second and seventh-round selection to dump Shayne Gostisbehere, who subsequently scored 51 points in 82 games with the Arizona Coyotes.

Safe to say that that isn’t a very good track record. Regardless, the team needs a new voice — or at least not one associated with the current regime, not one of the same voices that got the Devils into this mess in the first place.

Rob Blake

Rob Blake last served as the general manager of the Los Angeles Kings, with whom he parted ways in May of last season. He held that position for eight years, first stepping into the role in 2017. In those eight seasons, the Kings made the postseason five times, never escaping the first round — they lost in four consecutive first-round matchups against the Edmonton Oilers.

Here are some notable trades made by Blake over the years:

• Traded Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round draft pick for Pierre Luc-Dubois, who he subsequently flipped one-for-one for Darcy Kuemper.

• Traded away Sean Durzi for a second-round pick.

• Traded a second and fourth-round pick for Tanner Jeannot.

• Traded Brock Faber and a first-rounder for Kevin Fiala.

I don’t even dislike many of the names that Blake acquired, but it’s pretty clear that he doesn’t have a great understanding of getting positive value for his team. He had a tendency to overpay for big names (Dubois, Fiala) and undersell on assets he wants to trade away.

Kevyn Adams

I don’t think Kevyn Adams will be getting another NHL gig anytime soon, given his five-year track record of being wildly unsuccessful in Buffalo, but I feel as though it’s worth deciphering why he should be a no-go for New Jersey anyway.

It may be a hot take, but I actually don’t mind a lot of what Adams did in his seasons of being the Sabres’ general manager — the team right now is almost exclusively Adams’ work, even if he was let go this season before Buffalo went on their run. Regardless, he built through the draft and generally got decent value on most of his trades — acquiring Bowen Byram one-for-one for Casey Mittelstadt, acquiring Ryan McLeod and a no-name player for Matthew Savoie, and acquiring the aforementioned haul for Ristolainen were genuinely excellent moves. He also succeeds in the draft more often than most general managers.

Unfortunately, the story with the Sabres has always been what could have been if they didn’t make certain moves, and Adams was the general manager making many of those decisions — decisions like these:

• Disallowing Jack Eichel to get an artificial disc replacement and being “forced” to trade a top 5-10 NHL center (and third-round draft pick) for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a first-rounder, and a second-rounder. I don’t dislike any of the pieces that came back, but this is the ultimate “what if” in Sabres’ history.

• Trading Sam Reinhart for a first-round pick (Jiri Kulich) and Devon Levi. Again, in a vacuum, I like Kulich and Levi as players (though Levi has struggled to cement himself as a palatable NHL goaltending option).

Adams will go down in Sabres’ history as the guy who let Eichel and Reinhart succeed in other places rather than building a successful roster around them. Even if the other deals and draft picks throughout his tenure have resulted in the framework of success that the Sabres are reaping now, ultimately, Adams failed to make the playoffs in the five years he was running the show in Buffalo. He has a penchant for minimizing value on stars that get traded the other way. No, thank you.

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With every passing day and each loss and each furtherment from the playoff picture, the likelihood that Tom Fitzgerald starts next season in the same General Manager role he has been in seems unlikelier and unlikelier. It has become abundantly clear that he should not be at the helm of the organization past this season, and there are a good few options out there who should go into consideration — many of whom have previous ties to and relationships with the Devils’ current ownership group. It’s time for a change, and one in which the people running the show are privy to the ever-changing environment of hockey as the game progresses further.