NHL’s Devils hire former women’s national team captain to front office

The NHL’s New Jersey Devils on Wednesday announced the hiring of Meghan Duggan, the first openly gay person to work in league front office operations.  

The Devils issued a press release on the landmark hiring of Duggan as manager of player development. Duggan will work with Dan MacKinnon, the team’s senior vice president and assistant general manager,  across all levels of the department’s operations.

#NEWS: Meghan Duggan has been hired for the newly created role of Manager, Player Development within our Hockey Operations Department.https://t.co/aGrzcypEE0

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) May 19, 2021

Duggan, 33, retired from professional hockey in October as one of the greatest international players in the sport, winning 11 medals, including two gold medals with Team USA at the Winter Olympics, according to the statement. 

Duggan is a member of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association and serves as a board of trustees member for the Women’s Sports Foundation. She also uses her platform to be an advocate for gender equality and LGBTQ+ issues. 

“We are incredibly excited to announce that Meghan has joined our Player Development Department,” said Devils Executive Vice President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald. 

“As our group has evolved over the past few years to include as much about off-ice as on-ice for development, we believe Meghan will be perfect for this position. Her successful track record as a teammate, leader, captain and driver of initiatives will be resources to all players in our organization. We look forward to her utilizing her perspective of the game, attention to detail and creative thinking to help our players reach their potential,” he added.