Ray Shero

Ray Shero
Born	July 28, 1962 Saint Paul, MN, USA
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Centre
Played for	St. Lawrence University
NHL Draft	216th overall, 1982 Los Angeles Kings
Playing career	1980–1985

Rejean "Ray" Shero (born July 28, 1962) is the general manager of the New Jersey Devils National Hockey League franchise. He was hired on May 4, 2015, replacing Lou Lamoriello. He was previously the general manager for the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise. He is the son of former Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers coach Fred Shero.

Hockey career

Shero played his college hockey for the St. Lawrence University Skating Saints, captaining the team from 1983–85. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1982, but never played in the NHL.

GM career

Before joining the Penguins in 2006, Shero was an assistant GM first for the Ottawa Senators from 1993–98 and then for the Nashville Predators from their entrance into the league in 1998 until 2006.

Penguins 2006–2014

In his first season on the job with the Penguins, Shero made a small splash in the free agent market, signing forwards Mark Recchi and Jarkko Ruutu, along with defenseman Mark Eaton. In addition to these moves, he traded for forwards Nils Ekman and Dominic Moore, after drafting center Jordan Staal with the second overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. This choice paid immediate dividends, as Staal would score 29 goals and 42 points in his rookie year with fellow rookie Evgeni Malkin.

At the trading deadline of the 2006–07 NHL season, Shero swung two major trades, sending Noah Welch to the Florida Panthers for veteran Gary Roberts, and sending Daniel Carcillo and a draft pick to the Phoenix Coyotes for enforcer Georges Laraque.

Shero made several tweaks to his club during the next offseason, signing defenceman Darryl Sydor, forwards Petr Sýkora and Jeff Taffe, and backup goaltender Dany Sabourin. Shero also took several steps to ensure that his nucleus of talent remained in Pittsburgh by re-signing defenceman Ryan Whitney to a six-year, $24 million contract extension, and re-signing center and captain Sidney Crosby to a five-year, $43.5 million extension.

On July 16, 2007, Shero announced that he had re-signed head coach Michel Therrien to a one-year extension through the 2008–09 NHL season.

The trading deadline of the 2007–08 NHL season brought two other major trades for Shero and the Pittsburgh Penguins, sending Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, prospect Angelo Esposito, and a future draft pick for the Atlanta Thrashers' Marián Hossa and Pascal Dupuis, as well as bringing the Toronto Maple Leafs' defensemen Hal Gill to his team for two future draft picks.

In 2009, the Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games to win the Stanley Cup. They won the cup on the road at the Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings defeated the Pens the year before in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals at Mellon Arena.

On Friday, May 16, 2014 the Penguins relieved Shero of his duties after the Penguins fell to the Rangers 4-3 in the second round of the 2014 NHL Playoffs. The Penguins went into game 5 with a 3-1 series lead. This was the 5th straight year the Penguins were eliminated by a lower seeded opponent.

New Jersey Devils

Shero became the general manager of the New Jersey Devils on May 4, 2015.

References

• Hockey Smarts Run in Shero Family at NHL.com 7 Aug 2006.
• Bio at Hockey Draft Central
• Ray Shero's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database