Lombardi Gets the Nod From Mehta. Now He Has to Earn It.

Sunny Mehta said Thursday he's comfortable with the goaltending situation heading into camp. The next day, a piece surfaced on Amadeus Lombardi — Mehta specifically telling people not to sleep on him. That's not a coincidence. That's a general manager pointing at his answer.

Lombardi is the name in the room right now, which is notable given where this organization stood three months ago. Jacob Markstrom was traded to Florida in late June, and the external market dried up fast — Michael Hutchinson retired in July, another veteran option went to Italy in August. The Devils didn't replace Markstrom so much as they absorbed the loss and pivoted inward. Mehta's comfort, in that context, is really a bet on development over experience.

The forward group is settled enough that the offense shouldn't be the worry going into October. Hischier, Hughes when healthy, Bratt, Mercer, Mantha, Evangelista — that's a real group. My concern is the same one I flagged when camp opened two weeks ago: this team finished last season with a negative goal differential despite 42 wins, which means the margin for goaltending mistakes is essentially zero. They outran their underlying numbers all year. A shaky crease makes that harder to repeat.

Mehta's read may be right. Lombardi may be ready. But "don't sleep on him" is a GM's way of building a story, and camp is where that story either holds up or doesn't.