When Sunny Mehta indicated to reporters that he preferred not to invest significant assets to upgrade the goaltender position a few months ago, it was all a smokescreen by the new Devils team president and general manager.

Instead of remaining status quo in net, Mehta pulled off the unthinkable last Friday, Oct. 23 by acquiring Connor Hellebuyck from the Jets in a shocking power move that should solifify the Devils as a serious player this season.

Due in large part to the disgruntled Hellebuyck putting Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff in a tough situation, he wasn’t able to get good enough value back for the three-time Vezina winner.

That meant agreeing to trade the former Hart winner for a package that was highlighted by Dawson Mercer. A versatile two-way forward, the former Devils 2020 first round pick has scored at least 20 goals in three seasons. Nicknamed Merc Dawg by former teammates, he made his Jets debut in the Heritage Classic for Winnipeg on Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the Canadiens outdoors.

From a Devils vantage point, Mehta only subtracted a top nine forward, injured checking center Nick Bjugstad and backup goalie Nico Daws off a roster that looks pretty deep. He also included recent 2026 first round pick Alexander Command, a 2029 second round pick, and a 2027 seventh round pick to get the franchise altering deal done.

On paper, it was a no brainer. By adding a proven number one goalie who can carry most of the workload, Mehta addressed the Devils’ biggest weakness. Since entering the league, the 33-year-old Hellebuyck has been one of the game’s best goalies who ranks among the elite with rating Vezina winner Andrei Vasilevskiy, injured Rangers starter Igor Shesterkin, and Islanders backstop Ilya Sorokin.

A player who’s won over 40 games twice, including an NHL-leading 47 two years ago when he captured both the Hart and Vezina thanks to a 2.00 goals-against-average, .925 save percentage, and eight shutouts, Hellebuyck is capable of stealing games.

It was earlier this year that he was superb in leading USA to its first Olympic gold medal in men’s ice hockey since 1980. He finished with 41 saves in a memorable 2-1 overtime victory that’s remembered for current Devils star Jack Hughes scoring the golden goal on Feb. 22. Now, the two American stars are reunited in New Jersey.

While Hughes has gotten most of the attention since the Devils selected him with the first pick in 2019, he’s never gotten them past the second round in his career. Despite teaming with captain Nico Hischier and linemate Jesper Bratt, the Hughes era has been disappointing so far with only two postseason appearances and one series win that came over the Rangers in 2023.

In fact, the Devils have only made the playoffs three times since appearing in the 2011-12 Stanley Cup Finals. When ownership decided to make a necessary change by replacing Tom Fitzgerald with Mehta, it was with restoring the franchise’s previous success that included winning three Stanley Cups over a nine-year period.

Under Hockey Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello, the Devils were one of the most successful NHL teams for better than a decade. Built around all-time great Martin Brodeur, whose NHL records in victories (691) and shutouts (125) will probably never be broken due to the philosphical change in goaltending, they were constructed from the goal out.

That included Hall of Famers Scott Niedermayer and captain Scott Stevens. Due to how tough they were defensively and in the net, those Devils teams were hard to deal with. Their championship rosters also prominently featured Claude Lemieux, John MacLean, Stephane Richer, Neal Broten, Ken Daneyko, Bruce Driver, Brian Rafalski, Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott, Scott Gomez, Alexander Mogilny, Bobby Holik, Randy McKay, and Sergei Brylin.

Sunny Focused on Making Devils a Winner

A former high stakes poker player who grew up in Wycoff, New Jersey and graduated from Ramapo High School, Mehta received his master’s in data science from the City University of New York.

Astonishingly, he went from playing professional poker and authoring books to doing statistical analysis of NHL games and publishing articles about it. Eventually, he became the Devils director of hockey analytics, which he ran from 2014 until 2017.

In 2020, he was hired by the Panthers as vice president of hockey strategy and intelligence. Eventually, he got promoted to assistant general manager and head of analytics in 2023. What soon followed were consecutive Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025. While he wasn’t the architect behind all of their success, with Bill Zito in place as the GM, Mehta was a key part of the organization.

Now, he’s gotten the chance to run the team he rooted for while growing up in New Jersey. Already, Mehta has been able to move off of Jacob Markstrom, who ironically was traded to the Panthers in exchange for key depth forwards Evan Rodriguez and Jesper Boqvist. Rodriguez has fit in nicely as the Devils third center while Boqvist has been a solid addition to the fourth line, which includes Cody Glass and Amadeus Lombardi, who Mehta acquired from the Red Wings last summer.

Despite a relatively slow start to the season for Hughes, he still has 12 points in 11 games. However, it’s been the strong improvement from second-year forward Arseny Gritsyuk that’s given a boost to the Devils top scoring line. He’ll bring a career-high five-game goal streak into tomorrow’s matchup versus the Stars.

One of Mehta’s best moves was trading for Luke Evangelista from Nashville and extending him for $7.25 million over the next six years starting in 2027-28. Although he missed three games due to battling an illness, Evangelista has seven points in eight games. His addition has helped improve the Hischier line that also includes Timo Meier. While both are scoring, Meier remains an enigma with only one goal so far.

Anthony Mantha was signed for one year with the anticipation that he could provide scoring help in the top six. However, after finding no chemistry with Hughes, he fits better on the third line with Rodrigues and Connor Brown.

When he was congratulated by a reporter for acquiring Hellebuyck, Mehta didn’t take any credit for the poker move. Instead, he was focused on his main objective.

If there’s one thing that’s easy to respect about Mehta, it’s his honesty when he speaks to the media. Unlike Fitzgerald, who hid from cameras, he’s usually available and gives well thought out responses to questions.

For the fans that root for the Devs, it’s a welcome change.

A Clearer Goalie Picture

Before the big Hellebuyck acquisition, the Devils had a lot of questions about how strong they were in goal. Veteran Jake Allen was still the starter while Daws backed up.

They also had Remi Poirier, who was claimed from the Stars on waivers before the beginning of the season. The 25-year-old goalie remains on the roster despite having not started a game.

With Hellebuyck slated to make his Devils debut sometime on the current road trip that includes stops in Colorado and Vegas later this week, it looks like Allen might remain the starter for Tuesday night at Dallas. Head coach Sheldon Keefe hasn’t indicated who will play yet.

By adding Hellebuyck, Mehta has his guy in net for the foreseeable future. He currently has four years remaining on a deal with an $8.5 million cap hit. The contract doesn’t expire until the conclusion of 2030-31. His full no-movement clause becomes a modified 10-team list starting next season.

With Hellebuyck the clearcut number one in Newark, Allen can go back to being the backup.

Hellebuyck Must Shed Playoff Label

The only thing missing from his career is a Stanley Cup. Hellebuyck has only reached the Conference Finals once way back in 2018, when the Jets fell to the Golden Knights in only his third season. Since then, he’s only been past the first round twice. However, he hasn’t performed well in the playoffs historically.

For a great goalie who’s won 345 games while posting a 2.58 GAA, .916 save percentage, and 45 shutouts during the regular season, Hellebuyck must perform better in the postseason. His 24-34 record with a 2.90 GAA and .903 save percentage is much worse for a goalie of his stature.

Hellebuyck frequently fared better at home than on the road with Winnipeg in the playoffs. His road struggles continued two years ago in a six-game second round series loss to the Stars. The difference was that the Jets lost all three games on the road, including a 2-1 overtime defeat in Game 6 on May 17, 2025.

Although he played better overall by posting a 2.20 GAA with two shutouts and a .903 save percentage, it wasn’t good enough for him to advance. Jake Oettinger outdueled Hellebuyck by posting a 2.02 GAA and .929 save percentage.

If it’s going to work in New Jersey, Hellebuyck will need to be better when the playoffs roll around. Assuming the Devils return for the first time in two years, they’ll need to get past the Hurricanes to get out of the Metropolitan Division.

The defending champs still look like the best team in the East despite going with a tandem of Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov in the net. Despite losing captain Jordan Staal and recently placing Taylor Hall on injured reserve, the Hurricanes are off to a fast 9-2-2 start due to the improvement from younger stars Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven. With Seth Jarvis finally returning, they look like a handful.

If the Devils can beat out the Capitals for second in the division, that could give them an edge. That’s assuming the Rangers don’t fall out of it completely now that Dylan Garand has fallen back to earth. It’s too early in the year to accurately predict what will happen. Last year, the Pens shocked many by edging out the surprising Flyers for second in the Metro. It could be a different story this time around.

Whatever happens, the Devils expect to be more competitive now that Hellebuyck is in the fold. We’ll see if he can deliver the goods in Newark.