Sunny Mehta has already shown his hand in New Jersey: he wants to keep the Devils competitive, not start tearing the roster down.
That stance stands in sharp contrast to what the Vancouver Canucks are living through right now. Vancouver opened its East Coast trip with a 7-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, a rough reminder of how wide the gap can be between the NHL’s best teams and its bottom tier. It also laid bare the growing pains that come with a rebuild, the kind the Canucks are now embracing after years of delaying that decision.
The Devils, meanwhile, are trying to steer clear of that road. Mehta took over the front office this offseason and wasted little time shaping the roster around a quicker return to relevance. His moves suggested a clear plan: keep the team in the playoff mix and see what the current core can do with better support around it.
That’s why a rebuilding team doesn’t sign Anthony Mantha to a two-year deal. The 31-year-old winger brings scoring touch and size to the top six.
Evan Rodrigues was brought in as a veteran middle-six presence. Luke Evangelista and Declan Chisholm could become longer-term pieces, but both arrived this offseason to help now, not later.
The idea is simple enough. Jack Hughes now has a power forward who can finish on his wing in Mantha, while Nico Hischier gets a playmaker in Evangelista who is willing to go into the dirty areas with him. Mehta wants to find out what the Devils’ core really looks like when it’s surrounded by the right pieces.
That evaluation will take time. Mehta appears ready to give it at least one season before making major changes, even if the results don’t immediately match the vision.
There’s a reason front offices are so hesitant to jump into a rebuild. It takes years of losing, and plenty of patience from ownership.
Montreal and San Jose are held up as examples of clubs that committed to the process, but both had to live through miserable stretches first. In Montreal, frustration boiled over with fans.
In San Jose, the Sharks faded so badly they became nearly invisible in the Bay Area.
The long game can eventually pay off. Both of those clubs loaded up on high picks, including top-five and even number-one selections, and built toward star-level talent.
Vancouver is choosing that path now under Ryan Johnson, with Manny Malhotra behind the bench. The Canucks selected Caleb Malhotra with the third pick in the 2026 draft and are expected to add another elite player in the 2027 draft, hoping those two become cornerstones down the line.
Mehta, though, would rather avoid that kind of slog if he can. He has watched how teams such as the New York Islanders under Mathieu Darche retooled without blowing everything up. He has also seen the examples set by the Bruins, Penguins, and Capitals, organizations that managed to stay competitive while reshaping around the edges.
That thinking has carried over beyond the NHL roster. Mehta has pushed to revamp the prospect pool and strengthen the American Hockey League side, with the hope that the Utica Comets can become a reliable source of help the way strong AHL teams have for Boston, Washington, and Pittsburgh in recent years.
Still, the Devils are not out of the woods. Their upside is real, but they have underachieved so far, and it’s only been three games. If the same issues keep showing up and another playoff berth slips away, the conversation will get louder: can this group actually win as currently built?
One obvious pressure point is behind the bench. Sheldon Keefe is on the hot seat, and his approach has not gotten the most out of the roster. A different voice and a different style may be what this team needs to jolt the room.
And then there’s the core itself. Can the Bratt, Hischier, and Hughes trio carry New Jersey on a deep playoff run? If the answer keeps coming back no, Mehta may eventually have no choice but to consider a rebuild after all.
That would be a tougher path, especially with no-trade clauses and immovable contracts complicating matters. But it is still a path that could bring high-end draft picks.
For now, the Canucks are the cautionary tale Mehta wants to avoid. Down the line, they could become the example of why some teams have to take that plunge.
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Allens latest reminder of just how much he has seen came early this season, when he reached his 500th NHL start. For a team that values stability in goal, that kind of mileage matters, and it puts him in a pretty select class among NHL netminders even before you get to what he can still bring every time he takes the crease. [Read more 🡒]