Sunny Mehta’s Poker Past Highlights Eccentric Path to Devils GM
By James Moreau | 08 Jun, 2026

Former poker pro and data pioneer Sunny Mehta takes over as general manager of the New Jersey Devils to launch a bold new era of Moneypuck strategy.

In today’s NHL, data is just as vital as ice time.  No one understands this better than Sunny Mehta, who was named General Manager of the New Jersey Devils in April.  Mehta’s appointment represents a bold, forward-thinking era for the franchise – drawing parallels to baseball’s Moneyball revolution.  By bringing a sophisticated “Moneypuck” approach to the front office, the Indian American executive is poised to weaponize data science and maximize roster efficiency.

Mehta’s path to the GM chair is one of the most eccentric stories in professional sports, built on an elite mastery of probability and risk assessment.  Before translating his skills to hockey operations, he managed risk on the Chicago Board of Trade as a proprietary derivatives trader for Peak6 Capital Management from 2011 to 2014.  Prior to that, while living in Las Vegas, he spent eight years playing high-stakes Texas Hold ‘em professionally and co-authoring two strategy books: 2007’s Professional No-Limit Hold ‘em: Volume I – which became an instant #1 Amazon gambling bestseller – and Small Stakes No-Limit Hold ‘em released in 2009.  His early roots were entirely creative; he graduated from the University of Miami in 2000 with a degree in jazz guitar and performed professionally in New Orleans.  In 2018, he earned a master’s degree in data science from the City University of New York.

Mehta’s hockey executive career has come full circle.  He was part of the NHL’s early wave of advanced analytics pioneers, serving a three-year stint as the Devils’ Director of Hockey Analytics beginning in 2014, where he established the league’s very first full-time analytics department.  In 2020, Mehta parlayed that experience into a historic six-season run with the Florida Panthers, ultimately rising to assistant GM and providing data-driven strategies that secured back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and 2025.

Now running the show in New Jersey, Mehta takes the reins of a hungry, talented young core anchored by Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.  The 48-year-old has already begun reshaping the front office, bringing in former Florida colleague Braden Birch as assistant GM.  For a local kid raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, who grew up a die-hard fan watching the team practice, Mehta’s mission is clear: blend world-class data science with raw on-ice talent to bring the Stanley Cup back to the Garden State.