James Nichols
After competing for the services of Sunny Mehta, it seems the New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs could by against each other for another front office executive.
The Devils weren’t letting Mehta slip through their fingers after learning he was a candidate for the job in Toronto as well.
They promptly fired Tom Fitzgerald and quickly ensured Mehta’s arrival in New Jersey.
Mehta didn’t wait long to make changes to his front office, relieving now former assistant general manager Dan Mackinnon and senior advisor Chuck Fletcher.
Now the Devils GM has a cabinet to build, and he could be seeking the services of Bryan McCabe—the Florida Panthers‘ Director of Player Development.
“One of the people I’m curious to see if Mehta will try to add is Bryan McCabe.
“Bryan McCabe, the former Maple Leaf defenseman, has a really good reputation for player development,” Elliotte Friedman said on the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast. “Mackenzie Weeger is one of the guys that has credited McCabe in the past for really helping him become the player he’s become.”
However, Friedman mentioned that although John Chayka and Mats Sundin haven’t made any changes yet, McCabe could be a candidate in Toronto—where he’s played before–as well.
“But I’ve also kind of wondered if for any reason, if, if, if, if Toronto makes any changes, if Sandin would vouch for him too in a player development role,” Friedman said.
McCabe would be a welcomed asset in New Jersey. Given his success in helping players such as Weegar, Gustav Forsling, and Dmitri Kulikov develop into significant blueliners, that kind of guidence would go a long way for Devils defenders such as Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec.
McCabe isn’t the only Panthers executive Mehta could be eyeing.
The Devils GM needs a right-hand man, and Braden Burch is the name that’s being whispered about.
“The other guy I heard could be on Sunny Mehta’s radar is a guy by the name of Braden Burch. Now, Burch’s official position is [Florida’s] Director of Hockey Operations and Salary Cap Management. He played hockey. He was drafted actually by the [Chicago] Blackhawks in 2008, and then he went overseas. He’s kind of been around hockey all his life.”
“When we were kind of talking… about how some of these teams felt that some of the people they were interviewing were too siloed and didn’t really have a lot of experience in a number of different areas, one of the future candidates, because I don’t think he’s ready yet, that a few people reached out to me about was Birch, and they wonder if he’s going to end up being Sunny Mehta’s right-hand guy with the Devils. So just a couple of names I wanted to point out there.”
