New Jersey Devils: Five Likely Reasons Behind Ray Shero’s Firing
By Mike Luci
Fallout After Being the “Winners” of the 2019 Offseason
Along with selecting generational talent Jack Hughes first overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Shero acquired defenseman P.K. Subban (who you could speculate Shero acquired as a knee-jerk reaction in the wake of the New York Rangers getting Jacob Trouba) for a meager return in exchange for taking on his full $9 million salary, signed bruising veteran Wayne Simmonds and banking on him having a turnaround season and acquired young Russian winger Nikita Gusev from the Vegas Golden Knights.
Despite their concerns in net, many believed these moves put the New Jersey Devils on the path to success and were signs that management believed they were in a prime position to make a serious playoff run.
Four months later and Shero’s seemingly bountiful summer has had little to show. Subban has just five goals and 10 points in 45 games, during which he endured a 21-game point drought, Simmonds only scored four times and hasn’t netted a goal in 26 contests and Jack Hughes is having a very underwhelming rookie campaign with six goals and 17 points in 37 contests, only scoring twice in his last 23 games.
Nikita Gusev has been the most successful out of Shero’s big offseason acquisitions with eight goals and 27 points in 42 contests, especially as of late, but is in no position to carry the weight of this team’s success on his shoulders.
To sum it up, Shero banked on his offseason moves to put the New Jersey Devils over the top in 2019-20, a gamble that blew up in his face. Now the Devils must endure PK Subban’s full $9 million AAV for the next two seasons, won’t likely get a worthwhile return for Wayne Simmonds should they decide to trade him (and might even retain some of his salary to entice a potential trade partner) and are (rightfully so) barely seeing anyone bring up Jack Hughes when discussing this season’s top rookies.
For ownership, the consequences of these moves flopping are not only being reflected in the team’s performance, but in their wallets. They invested their full confidence in Ray Shero to uplift a team that missed the playoffs five of the six years since purchasing the franchise and might have seen the ineffectiveness of his busy summer as a last straw.
Hard to blame them when you consider it’s their money Shero is using, right?