Dr. Mugford Joins Devils, Duggan Promoted | RELEASE

The New Jersey Devils today officially announced updates to the Player Development and Performance staffs. Dr. Angus Mugford has joined the organization as Senior Vice President, Player Development and Performance. Additionally, Meghan Duggan has been promoted to Director, Player Development. The announcements were made by Devils' Executive Vice President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.
Mugford will oversee the club's Athlete Care/Performance and Player Development programs run respectively by Chris Stackpole, Vice President, Athlete Care, and Duggan in her new Player Development role.
"Supporting the development of our players from the moment they join our organization and guiding their individual journeys to become successful NHL players is paramount," said Fitzgerald. "We have a young, evolving core in New Jersey, on the verge of taking another leap forward, and more exciting talent on the horizon. These moves continue our commitment to providing them all with best-in-class personnel, infrastructure, and resources on and off the ice.

"Angus has an outstanding background in culture, care and development and has all the attributes required to build a model that will help our players get the best out of themselves and direct them to their next level.
"In just one year, Meghan has already proven what a valuable asset she has been to our hockey operations department, instilling her work ethic and expertise into our player development staff. She will absolutely flourish with the new responsibilities in this role.
"I'm extremely excited for how Angus, Meghan, Chris, and the entire Player Development and Performance staffs will commit to helping us realize success for our players and ultimately, the team."
Mugford spent the previous seven years, 2015-22, with Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays as Vice President, High Performance. He spearheaded the creation and growth of one of MLB's first-ever sports science departments, integrating a team of medical specialists within Toronto's player development system. Mugford also helped lead the design of the Blue Jays world-class player development facility in Florida, as well as innovation in coaching and player development. During that time, the High Performance group grew to 60 staff members, working with 250 players and guiding the organization on player evaluation. Toronto's farm system had been ranked among the top seven in four out of the past five years by MLB.com, as the system graduated top players to the MLB squad including Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., Bo Bichette, and Alek Manoah. Mugford's department focused on sports science, sports medicine, nutrition, psychology, strength and conditioning and performance goals.
Prior to the Blue Jays, Mugford spent 11 years, 2004-2015, at IMG Academy in Florida, where he directed the Mental Conditioning department and ran player development programs including IMG Bollettieri Tennis, golf, soccer, baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, and track & field. Additionally, he was the lead consultant to provide professional and elite athletes individual and group mental conditioning programming (specifically from the NFL, NBA, MLB, WTA & ATP tennis tours). He also led the mental performance component for the U.S. Military Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Human Performance program.
Duggan was previously hired by Fitzgerald for the newly created role of Manager, Player Development in May of 2021. She will now manage all levels of the club's development department, evaluating all on-ice and off-ice information. Duggan will drive the organization's plans on the design, improvement, and execution of progress plans for all players in the system. Her staff will be responsible for reviewing schedules and synthesizing information regarding all AHL players and prospects, while assessing them through in-person and video scouting. Duggan will work with Mugford and Stackpole to coordinate the work of the Athlete Care group with the development of the organization's prospects.
Duggan is one of the most successful players in international hockey history, having won eleven medals (eight gold & three silver) for Team USA in international play. In the Olympic Winter Games, Duggan captured three medals: winning silver in 2010 at Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi (where she served as Captain), and triumphantly captured gold in a 2018 rematch with Canada at PyeongChang (where she was once again captain). In eight IIHF Women's World Championships, she was part of seven World Championship squads (2008-09, 2011, 2013 & 2015-17) and finished runner up once (2007). Duggan played collegiately at Wisconsin, and played with the Boston Blades (CWHL) and with the Buffalo Beauts/Boston Pride (NWHL).
She was recently named President of Women's Sports Foundation and is on the NHL's Player Inclusion Committee. Duggan has served as a member of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PHWPA), USA Hockey's Board of Directors, and Women's Advisory Committee. She has used her platform throughout her career for mentorship and motivational speaking with a focus on gender equality, diversity & inclusion, leadership, LGBTQ+ advocacy and teamwork