The New Jersey Devils announced today that the team has hiredBryan McCabe as Vice President, Prospect Personnel/Assistant General Manager, Utica Comets (AHL),and Jessica Campbell as Manager, Player Development. The announcement was made by General Manager Sunny Mehta.
These hires will complete the club’s development staff and oversee prospect development, while also serving as a resource for the American Hockey League franchise in Utica. The department will report to Devils’ Assistant General Manager/Utica Comets General Manager Braden Birch and work in concert with existing Development Coaches Eric Weinrich, Mark Voakes (who returned to development after a year as an Assistant Coach in Utica), and Esa Pirnes (Europe). Focused on the advancement of the club’s draft picks and young players, McCabe and Campbell will also serve as bridges to the organization’s existing resources including Athlete Care, Performance, and Coaching.
Bryan McCabe, Vice President, Prospect Personnel/Assistant GM, Utica Comets (AHL)
McCabe, 51, joins New Jersey after spending the last 14 seasons with the Florida Panthers organization in player development roles since 2012-13. Florida hired McCabe as a Player Development Coach in 2012-13, and he later served as Director of Player Development from 2013-14 to 2016-17. McCabe was promoted to Director of Player Personnel in 2017-18. He became an integral member of a front office that led Florida to three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances and consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and 2025.
Born on June 8, 1975, in St. Catharines, Ontario, McCabe played 15 seasons in the NHL from 1995-96 to 2010-11. The New York Islanders selected the left-shot defenseman in the second round, 40th overall, in the 1993 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 7, 1995, with the Islanders, and played two full seasons with the Islanders before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks midway through the 1997-98 season.
McCabe was later traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in June of 1999 and spent the 1999-00 campaign with the Blackhawks. The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired McCabe in a trade in October of 2000 where hespent the next seven seasons until 2007-08. In 2005-06 he set career-highs across the board with 19 goals, 49 assists and 68 points, while his 68 points ranked third for all NHL defensemen that season. His career-high six game-winning goals in 2005-06 are also the second most in a single season for a Maple Leaf defenseman, behind Tim Horton’s seven in 1963-64. He earned 297 career points with the Maple Leafs, which ranks eighth all-time for a defenseman in Toronto’s franchise history.
Before ending his NHL career with the New York Rangers in 2010-11, McCabe spent parts of three seasons with Florida starting in 2008-09. Florida named McCabe captain in 2009-10. McCabe played 1000th career NHL game on Nov. 6, 2009. Overall, McCabe recorded 528 career points (145g-383a) in 1,135 career games.
On the international stage, McCabe represented Canada several times, which included the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Junior Championship (WJC) in 1994 and 1995. McCabe won gold medals at both WJC tournaments and later won another gold medal at the IIHF’s World Championship in 1997. McCabe also represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.
Jessica Campbell, Manager, Player Development
Campell, 34, spent the last two years as an assistant coach with the Seattle Kraken, before stepping down from her role on April 30 to explore other opportunities. She was hired as an assistant coach on July 3, 2024, becoming the first full-time female assistant coach in NHL history to work behind the bench during the regular season. Campbell originally joined the Seattle organization in July of 2022 and was the assistant coach for Coachella (AHL), for two seasons, helping the team reach the Calder Cup Final in both years. In both stints, she worked with former Firebirds/Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma.
Before joining the Kraken organization, Campbell worked as an assistant coach and skills coach for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers (DEL), Germany’s top men’s professional league, during the 2021-22 season. She also served as an assistant coach for Germany at the 2022 IIHF World Championship.
Campbell played four seasons, 2010-11 to 2013-14, at Cornell University (NCAA), where she overlapped in the Big Red hockey program for three seasons with Braden Birch, who also played collegiate hockey at Cornell. In her senior season, she served as captain. Campbell played professionally with the Calgary Inferno, from 2014-15 through 2016-17 of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) and after a brief hiatus, she returned to play with the Malmo Redhawks in 2019-20 of the Swedish Women’s Division 1 league.
In 2019, she opened JC Power Skating, a skills and development school in Kelowna, that worked with numerous NHL players.
Born June 24, 1992, in Rocanville, Saskatchewan, Campbell has represented Canada in international competition in several tournaments including the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) U-18 World Junior Championship (WJC) in 2009 and 2010 and the IIHF World Championship in 2015. She won silver in 2009 and 2015, and in 2010, she led Canada to a gold medal, leading all skaters in scoring(7g-8a-15pts) and earning Most Valuable Player honors.
