New Jersey Devils: 5 Players Impacted By Ray Shero Firing

Pavel Zacha

Was Pavel Zacha a Lou Lamoriello pick or a Ray Shero pick? Should we hold Shero accountable for a sixth-overall pick that was taken just weeks into his tenure?

You know what, it doesn’t matter now. Both Lou and Shero are gone for good, and the Devils don’t have to worry about debating what happened in a weird transition time because the Devils will move clear on to the next GM.

Either way, Shero paid this guy to stick around for three more season. His contract isn’t crazy, paying him $2.25 million each year. Shero likely wanted Zacha, who was taken in front of such names in the 2015 NHL Draft as (say it with me, you all know at this point), Matthew Barzal, Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov, Thomas Chabot and Mikko Rantanen. It’s clear Shero would at least want to make him something of value after leaving all that elite-level talent on the board, no matter what his role of that draft was.

Zacha could get traded as early as this season. Zacha is not playing well. He’s still doing his normal penalty kill dominance, but his offensive numbers are non-existent. The Devils could likely convince a team Zacha just needs a change of scenery, and he’s only 22 years old.

Zacha was a player that had some protections from Shero because of perception. We did learn that there’s a limit to those perceptions when rumors said there was threats he could play in the KHL, but there’s still that soft spot for his technical first draft pick after joining the Devils.