Why Rangers should be bold, hire Sunny Mehta as GM to work with Chris Drury
If you follow the NHL at all beyond just the New York Rangers, you’re bound to hear Sunny Mehta’s name mentioned quite a bit over the next few weeks.
Some of you may already be familiar with the Northern New Jersey native and Florida Panthers assistant general manager. If not, the analytically minded former pro poker player and musician turned hockey exec is already the hottest available potential GM.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils, with whom Mehta got his start as an NHL executive, each already requested an interview with Mehta to fill vacancies in their hockey operations departments. The Seattle Kraken, whose president Ron Francis just stepped down from his role with the club Wednesday, may consider interviewing Mehta for their GM spot as well.
But if the Rangers are a smart, forward-thinking organization, they should strongly consider Mehta for their front office as well, even if there’s technically no opening to fill.
Why Rangers should consider hiring Sunny Mehta as GM
The Rangers, of course, have a general manager, Chris Drury. And Rangers owner James Dolan thinks extremely highly of his handpicked top hockey executive, even giving Drury a contract extension a year ago following an absolute mess of a season.
But there are ways around all that. Drury currently wears multiple hats as the team’s president and general manager, and the Rangers could simply keep him atop the food chain in hockey operations, but let Mehta handle GM duties.
Of course, Drury’s ego could be bruised. But he’d remain the top decision maker, and the executive closest to Dolan, just with less of the day-to-day responsibility.
Partnering Mehta, who would be a first-time GM, with the more experienced front-facing president could do wonders and be a solid 1-2 punch for the Rangers, who, by the way, did this before.
Glen Sather gave up his GM duties after the 2014-15 season but remained as the top hockey executive, when longtime assistant general manger Jeff Gorton was promoted. After Sather retired, John Davidson became Rangers president and Gorton remained, guiding the organization through a rebuild that bore fruit after Drury replaced each following the 2020-21 season. Those 2022 and 2024 Rangers teams that reached the Eastern Conference Final had Gorton’s fingerprints all over them.
Mehta is already a winner. He helped GM Bill Zito build the Panthers into the model NHL organization. They went to the Stanley Cup Final three years in a row and won consecutive championships, before crashing back to earth this season, buried by over 450 man-games lost due to injury.
Sunny Mehta would bring fresh perspective to Rangers’ front office
The marriage of a former player with an analytics-driven thinker like Mehta could be an odd one, especially in a traditionally minded organization like the Rangers.
But the Rangers operated as a hostile-to-analytics team for too long. They relied on their power play and elite, once-in-a-generation goaltending for the past two decades, which led them to four final-four appearances and the Stanley Cup Final in 2014.
But now, they are 16th in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs two years in a row. Surely the organization could use a fresh set of eyes — or data points.
With a GM like Mehta, the Rangers could target players that will help them improve their puck-possession game, especially at five-on-five. The Rangers had a 50%+ all-situation Corsi-for percentage only twice in five seasons since Drury took over, in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
They have not had a 50 percent 5v5 expected-goals for in any full season since Drury took over.
Dominant puck possession, which the Eric Tulsky-led Carolina Hurricanes do, is a more sustainable path to winning rather than unsustainable shooting binges and power-play burners. Plus, the Rangers have that elite goaltending with Igor Shesterkin that most teams don’t.
The coaching staff will get on board too. Mike Sullivan worked for Kyle Dubas with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he has not been actively hostile against analytics even though he is more of an old-school coach, like his mentor John Tortorella.
Even though, it’s unlikely to happen, the Rangers must make this call before Mehta ends up somewhere else, perhaps as close as right across the Hudson River.
