Elliotte Friedman

The Devils were looking at Metta.

They were looking at John Chayka.

And New Jersey didn't want to miss.

They really liked the idea of the local guy who I think – I think that was his first choice.

I think New Jersey was Metta's first choice.

And the Devils looked up and they said –

We've got this guy who knows us.

We've got this guy who we want.

We're not taking any chances here, and we're getting this done.

Like I'd mentioned, I thought they might have interest in Jamie Langenbrenner.

I don't even know if they interviewed him.

And I think a lot of us thought they would have interest in Brendan Shanahan.

I don't even know if that went anywhere either.

And, you know, they have a guy there who kind of leads the sports operations of their organization, Bob Myers, who's the former general manager of the Golden State Warriors.

He was the GM when they won all those championships and lost the Toronto Raptors.

We should mention Raptors 2019 NBA champions.

But he was a very successful executive there.

And I did have some people who wondered if the Devils would go down the Shanahan route because they already have Myers and kind of like that overseeing role.

They weren't sure if that was a fit.

Anyway, we'll never know because the moment I think they realized that Toronto had interest in Metta and had asked for permission to speak to Metta and received it, they just