Cody Glass is coming off a season in which everything seemed to click.
The forward established himself as a valuable asset for the New Jersey Devils, scoring a single-season career-high 19 goals. He enters the 2026-27 season in the final year of the two-year contract he signed with the organization on July 2, 2025.
While enjoying the summer with his wife, Bailey, and their baby, Charlotte, Glass took some time to speak with The Hockey News about his thoughts on what has been a busy offseason for the Devils.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity and was conducted prior to the team signing unrestricted free agent Anthony Mantha to a two-year contract.
The Hockey News: How have your early conversations with general manager Sunny Mehta been, and what are your thoughts about the vision he’s presented to the group so far?
Cody Glass: I have seen all the moves he has made, and he seems like a very intelligent guy. We pretty much just had an introductory chat. So, honestly, I haven't talked to him much, especially with me being away. He has been doing his thing, and it looks like he has his path to what he wants to do and to build a winning culture. It is something I am looking forward to.
THN: When I look at the lineup as it stands, it seems like you have a lot of players who can comfortably slot into the middle six. How important is the kind of depth that Mehta has added?
Glass: I don't even know if Sunny's done yet, so there are still a lot of moving parts, but I think if you have a guy who plays on the fourth line and can jump up and play second-line minutes, that goes a long way. Getting guys like Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist they have shown signs where maybe they play fourth line for a game, but the next they are on the second line, playing power play. It is guys who can jump in, not miss a beat, and help the team in any way possible.
THN: Is that a key part of the recipe of putting together a winning team?
Glass: 100% I think so. These guys are smart enough to play in any situation, and I think that is kind of the team that Sunny is building. Obviously, I don't want to put words in his mouth or anything, but I think from the moves you have seen, he is picking up very intelligent players who are capable of playing different ways and figuring out different ways to win.
THN: Can you tell me what it is like playing against Evan Rodrigues?
Glass: He can play in many different ways. One game he is a skill guy in the top six where he is scoring. Next game, when I am playing him, he is in a bottom-six role, playing super strong defensively, taking faceoffs, playing PK.
That is kind of how Florida was. They had such a strong lineup that you never knew where he was going to be or what role he was playing, but he bought in, and whatever role he was in, he did it to the best of his ability.
THN: I’m a firm believer that every season, whether it ends in success or disappointment, offers an opportunity to learn. What did you learn individually from last season, and what do you think this team learned as a group?
Glass: It is a great question. Personally, I think playing to your role and sticking to it. That has really helped me, especially having Sheldon Keefe back. You know, he gave me a role to kind of run away with, so I never really focused on anything besides playing defense, taking defensive zone face-offs, playing strong defensively, and playing hard minutes. When I focused on that, I think everything else went out of my mind, and goals started to happen. Everything kind of just fell into place.
As a team, we started last year, I think, 9-1-0, and then a couple of injuries happened, and it fell off the rails a little bit. I think just finding that consistency, and I think that's where those players coming in (help). You are not going to replace a Jack Hughes, but you need guys to step up, and I think we brought in some guys that can fill a top six role and push us if things go bad. I think that is a big lesson for us, and I think you learn from it. Obviously, it sucks, and you don't want to go through it, but you know that is how winning teams are made.
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