Do I think the Devils were hastily reckless in this hire? No, not at all. However a colleague of mine, whose opinion I respect and value greatly, raised some points in a text message below, that some here may agree with.
“When a front office bypasses a comprehensive interview process to lock in a single candidate, they aren't actually evaluating the market, they are settling for convenience. Just like Toronto backing themselves into a corner by rushing the Treliving hire, New Jersey skipping due diligence to hand the keys to Mehta is a massive organizational risk. Fast-tracking a front office hire without running a full search usually just guarantees an organization will be paying for another GM search in three years.”
There are some very solid points and I don’t think everyone should agree with me here, as you’re all entitled to your opinions and varying stances are what make discussions like these and sites like HockeyBuzz, great.
In the text it states that in “locking in” and “fast tracking” on Sunny Mehta and bypassing a “comprehensive interview process” the Devils did not do their due diligence. I will have to disagree here.
Firstly I believe the Devils had a pretty solid grasp of who was available and their track records. Like most teams should, they had their favorite going in. While the interview process can sway teams in a somewhat tighter race, in this instance Mehta was the Mercedes Benz and the Devils knew they liked the Benz. Once they took it for a spin, they liked it even more. With it being the only one available to these exact specs, no need to visit Hyundai, Kia or Chevrolet for test drive. You put pen to paper before someone else does and you’re stuck driving something you didn’t want for the next few years.
Next Mehta was compared to the hire of Brad Treliving in Toronto. Here, I don’t see the similarities. Treliving came from up and mostly down years with Calgary. His most notable trade was probably one of the worst in recent years, sending Matthew Tkachuk to Florida for Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar. A move that gutted the culture and derailed the Flames sending them into a rebuild.
In addition the move was to get away from an analytics driven GM in Kyle Dubas to the more traditional style that the Leafs thought Treliving would provide. The opposite can be said here as Mehta utilizes analytics to perform the type of “due dilligence” that Devils ownership is accused of circumventing in this hire. While analytics definitely play a part in his thought process, Mehta stressed in today’s presser that that is just one small piece of his decision making that has brought him success in his life’s journeys as a professional poker player, a futures trader and now in hockey.
Deeming the hire an “organizational risk” is one thing I can agree with, but only in the sense that every single front office hire and roster move involve risk. However, in this case, taking the consensus best guy off the board is about as small of a risk as there has ever been. Signing a top free agent center is way more of a risk. A GM can completely fall flat on their face, and you can just sever ties and move on. If a top free agent comes in there can be far more lingering effects upon failure. The organization runs the risk of potential injury and or performance decline with a cap hit that is immovable and stays on the books haunting the franchise for much longer.
Finally in another text he quipped “the Devils did the same with Keefe and it’s been a s***show”. Yes, it has been a “s***show” in New Jersey the last few seasons, however blaming Keefe is a bit difficult to do. When Keefe has had a healthy Jack Hughes they’ve been a good team. A coach can’t keep players healthy and the next man up method is hard to sell to the roster when it’s Luke Glendenning or Evgeni Dadonov who are the "next men up" to replace Jack Hughes.
As far as rushing into Keefe, I wouldn’t say that was the case either. Lindy Ruff, Travis Green and Craig Berube were swiped off of the table in the weeks prior to Keefe’s arrival in NJ. Perhaps the Devils doing too much “due dilligence” and not enough contract signing led them into that one. Has Keefe been great? No, I’d grade his tenure so far at a C thus far. I find it hard to blame coaches for much when they’re not handed a complete and or healthy roster.
After dissecting the texts and writing this blog I’ve just been sitting here, searching for flaws in the Mehta hiring process. I just don’t see it. Ownership identified a want/need, and went out and addressed it quickly with what I think was by far the best candidate available. Am I right? Or have I once again subconsciously convinced myself that something the Devils have done is better than it really is?
Sound off in the comments, I’m curious to see what fans from all sides think?