Ray Shero’s Best Moves As New Jersey Devils General Manager

Looking back, Ray Shero really changed the face of the New Jersey Devils.

Ray Shero was a revelation when he came to the New Jersey Devils. He was just fired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he was a Stanley Cup-winning GM that was coming to, at first, work alongside Lou Lamoriello. Just months later, Lou was headed off to Toronto, and Shero was solely in charge of fixing the mess that was the state of the Devils in 2015.

Shero did a remarkable job of reshaping the Devils’ prospect system. They were dead last for a large majority of this century, but now they sit at second in the league in terms of young talent. The future is bright for the Devils, and a lot of that is thanks to Shero.

This isn’t to say Shero wasn’t flawless. This is obvious. He got fired for a reason. The team didn’t gel with the new moves he made in the 2019 offseason. Shero was also stubborn to a fault. People at the top tend to be stubborn, but it’s when they double down on bad moves they make when it becomes a detriment. That happened multiple times with Shero (giving a long leash to John Hynes and Mirco Mueller come to mind).

Still, the positive outweighs the negative overall. There are a lot of really good moves that Shero made over the years, but what was the best? As with his worst moves article, draft picks are not being considered. That will be discussed in a future piece on its own.

Honorable Mention:

Trading Keith Kinkaid for a 2022 5th-round pick

Keith Kinkaid went from a goalie who could carry a team to the playoffs to completely worthless in one year. Still, at the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline, he was able to get a future pick even though he was going to play exactly zero games for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He basically got traded for a 14 year old.

Sami Vatanen trade

The Devils looked like they were on to something at the start of the 2017-18 season, but there was still a huge hole on the top line of the defense. Shero addressed it the best he could by trading Adam Henrique and a few other pieces for Sami Vatanen (and an extra 3rd-round pick when he re-signed). It helped lead the Devils to the playoffs, and if he didn’t get a concussion thanks to the Tampa Bay Lightning who knows what would have happened. (The Devils still would have lost.)

Nikita Gusev trade

The Devils made a lot of really fun moves last offseason, but it hit a fever pitch when the Devils traded for Russian superstar Nikita Gusev. The Vegas Golden Knights could not afford him, so they had to sell him off for a 2nd and 3rd-round pick. He took a little time to really play well, but it’s clear he is on the way to being a good player.