Maple Leafs Linked To Sunny Mehta For GM Vacancy

The Maple Leafs have Panthers assistant general manager Sunny Mehta on their initial list of desired candidates to succeed Brad Treliving in the GM’s chair, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on last night’s “Saturday Headlines.”

Mehta, 47, has long been a prominent face in advanced analytics. The Michigan native has had quite the long and winding road through his professional life – from earning a master’s degree in data science to becoming a professional poker player and bestselling author – before he got into online analytics blogging in the early 2010s. After quickly gaining acclaim in that sphere, he did some consulting work for the Coyotes before being hired as the Devils’ director of analytics in 2014, heading up the league’s first dedicated analytics department.

He remained in that role with New Jersey through 2018. He then did some freelance work with the Capitals and several Major League Baseball teams before getting brought into the Panthers’ front office by then fresh-faced GM Bill Zito in 2021. Mehta served as the team’s director of hockey strategy and intelligence for two years before Zito promoted him to his inner circle as an AGM, a role he’s stayed in since the Cats’ first of three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 while also serving as their director of analytics.

Keith Pelley, the president of the Leafs’ parent company, made clear in his media availability at the beginning of last week that his GM hire would be “data-centric.” There’s perhaps no individual more fitting of that description than Mehta. He’s played a key role in Florida’s successful acquisition of under-utilized depth pieces like Evan Rodrigues and Niko Mikkola over the past few years.