All Hail Shero: The Best Damn GM In The Business

[Fire Shero*]

He uses the extra cap space to trade a top prospect for an aging 3rd line and two 2nds for a #7 defenseman? And you call that paying off?

All hail Shero.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

And people who think the point of every trade is to get max value in return would probably be Mike Milbury if given a crack at doing the GM thing for real.

 

[M0NTY26]

I honestly don't care how well the Pens do in the reg season because of the last 3 years of PO disappointments.

I don't blame him for not getting ZP, I blame him for not haivng a back-up plan. Plan A-Z was go hard after ZP, there were no other options for him.

He's too patient. How long has Sid been in the league and how many games has he played with a legit top tier winger?

And he didn't miss on Semin, he chose not to pursue Semin because he's not a "Shero" type player.

As for your list of players, he was gifted all except Neal who was traded for a player he was also gifted.

His back up plan was to accumulate cap space, so it would appear, making it possible to make some big moves at the TDL. It looks like that plan has worked out.

None of us have the slightest clue if Shero went after Semin. That's pure speculation.

Gifted, or not, he's held the core together, signing players to fair cap hits. Saying he was gifted these players is stupid. Using that logic, every GM in the league that signs a player to a good cap hit must've been gifted that player. You should be glad he isn't going out with tunnel vision towards one player, then getting into a bidding war, handing out contracts like Feaster.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

He uses the extra cap space to trade a top prospect for an aging 3rd line and two 2nds for a #7 defenseman? And you call that paying off?

Yes, those trades happened in vacuums and had no conceivable impact on Iginla insisting on coming to Pittsburgh for a pittance, rather than accepting a deal to a Boston team that had failed to make a move.

 

[sf expat71]

You know, it's a little ridiculous how bi-polar/partisan this board is with regards to Shero. On the one hand we have posters who can find nothing but fault with his moves. To which I say, find me an alternative GM who you feel is clearly superior, and we can go to the Professional Hockey Transactions Archive and nitpick the bejesus out of him as well. And to those who say he is "The Best Damn GM in The Business," I say that he has only won one cup. Injuries, hot goalies, poor coaching, etc, excuses be damned, he is the one responsible. Personally I think he is a very good GM, but is he better than Chiarelli, or Lombardi? I can't definitively say that, they have as many cups as GMRS. And Detroit's been good and Holland has more cups than any of these guys, without the benefit of a top 15 draft pick in seemingly forever. I will say that I am more than happy with the players Shero brought in this TDL though. Joe Morrow may become awesome, he may become a sixth defenseman, PP specialist. We simply don't know yet. The others we sent out are (hopefully) a late first and late seconds, and most likely negligible pieces (low rated prospects and late rounders). Serioulsy, guys we just got IGINLA! Can't we just be happy about it for a while???

 

[stardog]

Im really in the middle on Ray. For the most parts he has made some masterful trades. Trades that shaped this roster into what it is. I felt he handled the Staal situation perfectly and didn't wait until his value diminished, traded with the team that would give the most and didn't accept less than fair value. Although at the moment I'm not liking the Morrow x2 swap, I understand the rationale.

I question some of his drafting but hey, we can say that about anybody.

I'm with ICED CAPP when it comes to personnel and team philosophy.

But I've been watching since the *)'s and remember the cluster**** of management teams we have had so the respect and stability he brings is really refreshing.

He makes mistakes sure, but everyone else does too and overall I'm pretty content with what he does. Not overjoyed as some in here, but not down on him like others.

 

[Ogrezilla]

You should probably mention the Morrow trade.

at this point, this is easily my least favorite of Shero's deals. As long as Morrow is used as a 3rd liner, I will think it was a bad deal. If we win a cup, I will be completely OK with it. I understand the reasoning behind it.

Martin was terrible last year too, and now look at him.

Also, look at what Dmen went for at the TDL and try to tell me that trading Z (with time left on his deal @ 4M) for Roupp was a good deal.

Michalek, even when playing well, doesn't fit this team's design. He was getting payed too much money to not fit in with our gameplan. We needed him gone so we could have room for the guys who were going to be playing in his place. We lost Strait for nothing as is. Keeping Michalek would have forced us to keep Despres in the AHL all year. I can't even imagine how we'd be looking today without at least having him up. My guess is we'd have traded for someone who can move the puck.

Ray Shero is not perfect. But his mistakes are pretty much all understandable, fixable, or small. That's my point.

 

[M0NTY26]

He uses the extra cap space to trade a top prospect for an aging 3rd line and two 2nds for a #7 defenseman? And you call that paying off?

If we win the Cup this year, absolutely. If not, it will all depend on how Morrows career pans out. As for the 2nds, I could really care less, because past the first, our scouts, along with Shero, don't have the best track record when it comes to drafting. Chances are, those seconds wouldn't crack our lineup anway.

 

[SteelFish87*]

How can you say that now

easy. compare that trade to every trade that happened from that point untill the deadline

massive overpayment

 

[Swimdude]

Took a lot of heat around here for not signing Semin in the off-season, not acquiring depth scoring, and not getting tougher on the back end, and the guy's come through in spades. He's done everything possible to put this team in a position to win, even to the point of acquiring a versatile forward who can win faceoffs, play PK, and stopgap for Sid while he recovers.

The man's a legend. Direct all lavish, unadulterated praise here, because we're damn lucky to have him.

I hear Kudos are also in order for Assistant Penguins General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk for providing James Neal, Matt Niskanen and Brenden Morrow as talented additions to the Penguins for their run to the Stanley Cup in 2013.

 

[steveg]

Interesting article here, I thought, that sort of pertains to this discussion (I don't think this link has been posted in this thread yet)...

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...s-top-brass-takes-nothing-for-granted-682071/

 

[sf expat71]

easy. compare that trade to every trade that happened from that point untill the deadline

massive overpayment

Erat ring a bell? If we are talking about prospects as sure things, surely Forsberg is a much bigger payment than J Morrow...

 

[steveg]

Because you all will bust out the hindsight is 20/20 garbage in defense of Shero.

Wow, No Wingers...

Not referring to this post in particular, but to your posts in general...

I used to think you were negative/upset because the Pens had limited options in terms of top 6 wingers. However, even with that addressed, you still seem pretty down on the team, and its supporters here.

I assumed you'd have been a happier camper after the trades which happened. Guess not.

 

[cassius]

Listen, I bet Shero is glad that Staal didn't sign the dotted line on that $60M/10 year contract.

Can't overpay for 25+25 guys who have good defensive skills/intangibles. Thankfully, that money can now go towards signing guys like Malkin/Letang/Iginla. That would really suck if we had to jettison an Iginla/Letang just to have an overpaid 3rd line center.

You guys fought me for years about Staal on this board, but it does turn out that I was right.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=753455

If you go back and read my post in 2010, you'll see that I always held the belief that Staal was a 25+25 guy who would give you elite defense / intangibles.

I actually predicted Staal's exact 2011-2012 stat-line back in 2010. Not bad - even though he did it in only 62 games.

This year? He is on pace for 20G and 30A over an 82 game season, which is exactly my forecast of 50 points. It's a big relief that Shero didn't end up signing a player like that to a $60M deal.

 

[Crafton]

I hear Kudos are also in order for Assistant Penguins General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk for providing James Neal, Matt Niskanen and Brenden Morrow as talented additions to the Penguins for their run to the Stanley Cup in 2013.

don't you know Ray serenaded Joe with a variation on a Dylan song. i imagine it went something like this:

Everybody will help you [with your rebuild]
Some people are very kind
But if I can save you any time
Come on, give [me your players]
I’ll keep [them] with mine

 

[Ogrezilla]

Listen, I bet Shero is glad that Staal didn't sign the dotted line on that $60M/10 year contract.

Can't overpay for 25+25 guys who have good defensive skills/intangibles. Thankfully, that money can now go towards signing guys like Malkin/Letang/Iginla. That would really suck if we had to jettison an Iginla/Letang just to have an overpaid 3rd line center.

You guys fought me for years about Staal on this board, but it does turn out that I was right.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=753455

If you go back and read my post in 2010, you'll see that I always held the belief that Staal was a 25+25 guy who would give you elite defense / intangibles.

I actually predicted Staal's exact 2011-2012 stat-line back in 2010. Not bad - even though he did it in only 62 games.

This year? He is on pace for 20G and 30A over an 82 game season, which is exactly my forecast of 50 points. It's a big relief that Shero didn't end up signing a player like that to a $60M deal.

I love Staal. He was a very good player for us for a long time. I think he was worth his 4M a year. And when we found out he wanted 60M dollars, I don't think many of us still disagreed with you. I just don't think many of us expected him to expect that kind of money.

 

[sniugneP]

People forget that Pens signed Michalek. It's not like Shero gave up his assets to get him. It didn't work out for Michalek so Shero got Ruopp. I have no problem with that.

 

[Will Hunting]

I am 100% sure that if Shero had a choice now, he would take that Morrow2 swap back. That was a desperate move by desperate man and he just overpaid. He should wait a second there.. He didn´t have a clue about TDL prices and made a foolish move. Bennett/Jokinen, both have potential to suit there much better than Morrow. I feel like we made one move too many and Morrow comes to mind first.

We can all argue that Jagr, D.Roy, Clowe & Iginla had lower/comparable values than Morrow and that´s just bad.

I´m OK with the other moves, but maan would it be gold if Jokinen actually outplays Morrow. I´m quietly rooting for him to do so.

 

[Fire Shero*]

I´m OK with the other moves, but maan would it be gold if Jokinen actually outplays Morrow. I´m quietly rooting for him to do so.

If he doesn't outplay Morrow then he better be benched.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

If we win the Cup this year, absolutely. If not, it will all depend on how Morrows career pans out. As for the 2nds, I could really care less, because past the first, our scouts, along with Shero, don't have the best track record when it comes to drafting. Chances are, those seconds wouldn't crack our lineup anway.

How is being a poor 2nd round drafter give Shero a free pass to trade 2nds?

 

[Fire Shero*]

How is being a poor 2nd round drafter give Shero a free pass to trade 2nds?

Haha good question. Delusional fans.

What a poor justification. We don't need second round picks because shero sucks at drafting past the first round. He's a genius!

A second round pick isn't worthless, some people seem to think so. Maybe a second round is worthless with Shero as your GM?