Devils’ first female assistant GM gives her all to bring team to new heights

At the age of 29, Kate Madigan became the assistant general manager of the New Jersey Devils. She was the first female GM for the team and made history in the sports world.
Madigan was one of six females to be named assistant general manager in the NHL when she took the position in July.
“It’s not a job. It’s a career. It’s my life and I love it,” she says.
Madigan joined the team in 2017 and knew it wasn't going to be easy.
“If you looked maybe five or 10 years ago and there was a certain form of what it looked like to be a general manager or in the front office – you had to have played or coached. And I never was. So I looked different than the norm,” Madigan says.
She grew up outside of Boston. Her father was a scout for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. She and her sister were right there in the stands and loving every minute of it.
“I loved the game from a young age, so when my dad was with the Penguins, my mom was sick at the time and I threw myself into hockey,” Madigan says.
She was helping her mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer. At 16, hockey became her outlet and her career choice.
After working as an accountant for two years, she chased her NHL dream. She started in the front office in 2017. She was named executive director of operations management by 2020.
“It was hard, it really was that first year. I think especially – it was a culture shift from public accounting to National Hockey League,” Madigan says.
Madigan is an extension of general manager Tom Fitzgerald, handling the draft or dealing with player injuries.
Her biggest accomplishment to date?
“I feel like I haven’t accomplished much – and I know that sounds wild because I’m 30 years old as a female. But to me, I’m like, I want to make the playoffs. I want to win a Stanley Cup. I want to keep helping change the landscape of the NHL,” she says.
Madigan says that it is important to her that the Devils are supportive of women moving up in the ranks. She says that while gender diversity is still an issue, she has not experienced it with the Devils.