Devils Mailbag: Answering Questions On The 2026-27 Roster, Prospects & More
In exactly one month, RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House will once again come alive with the familiar sounds of skates carving across the ice and pucks ringing off the crossbar. In what feels like the blink of an eye, New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe will be standing in front of the MSG banner fielding questions, while general manager Sunny Mehta watches his team work through drill after drill as the whistles echo throughout the rink.
Video Transcript
Do you think that this is gonna be a good fit for the Devils?
And, and are you surprised that it took this long for Mantha to sign a contract?
I'm not surprised it took very, th- this long because I think there are a lot of doubters out there about Anthony Mantha, not, in his ability.
He's always had ability.
It's his availability.
It's the fact that, you know, he scored 25 goals, I think it was six seasons ago, and it took ano- it took six years h- for him to get up to a level where he scored his career high.
I, I, I think probably him and his agent were looking for a multi-year deal, probably f- three, four, five years, and that wasn't out there because nobody trusts that he can stay healthy.
He stayed healthy last year.
He had a great year.
But it was a good gamble on the part of Ky- Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins to sign him, and they got paid off, and now he's trying to get paid off.
And he got a decent deal, but I think had he not had the record of being injured as much as he has, had been in the past, I think he would've been able to have a bigger payday.
As for the Devils, they, you know, they added Evan Rodriguez.
They, now they add Mantha.
The problem is they don't have a goaltender.
They have three goalies.
When you have three goalies, you don't have a goalie.
So I would be surprised if you're not, i- if they were not in the Hellebuyck sweepstakes, but if they're gonna go with Nico Dawes and, a- and, David Rittich and Jake Allen, they're in trouble.
They're not a playoff team.
