Ray Shero is a Magician

[VoidCreature]

I'm just amazed by the pickups this guy is capable of. In his first offseason as New Jersey's GM, Shero added Kyle Palmieri, who has over 50 points and about to be a 30 goal scorer, for a 2nd and a 3rd. He traded Stefan Matteau, who at this point is a middle six option in the AHL, for Devante Smith-Pelly, who looks like he could score twenty over a full season in the top six. He added Lee Stempniak as a tryout at the start of camp. He's two off of 50 points. He added a power play specialist D in David Schlemko on a tryout. He's 1 off 20 points on the year. He added John Moore in free agency, also only 3 off 20.

In total, Shero was able to add 140 points to this year's team. Out of thin air. The combined salary of these players is under $6 Million. For comparison's sake, Kane and Toews, who together are making $21 Million, have contributed 142 points to the Blackhawks this year.

No one expected to the Devils to be anything other than a basement team this year. Instead, they're just six points out of the playoffs in the last 10 games of the year. Signings like this are the reason why.

Ray Shero is a magician.


Edit: Might as well update the OP with the Taylor Hall trade. Many are calling it one of the biggest steals ever.

Managing to get a first overall pick in his youth without tanking is pretty magical.

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[KPower]

Jim Rutherford is a clown.

 

[SEALBound]

Had he brought Kyle Palmieri to the Penguins, he'd likely still have a job there.

While he did make some good trades and signings for the Penguins, he left them in very, VERY rough shape. He's a 50/50 good/bad GM at best.

 

[VoidCreature]

Had he brought Kyle Palmieri to the Penguins, he'd likely still have a job there.

So rough that you're currently 3rd in the metro, yes?

While he did make some good trades and signings for the Penguins, he left them in very, VERY rough shape. He's a 50/50 good/bad GM at best.

Do you have a substantive argument to back up your position? Last time I checked the Penguins finished 5th in the Atlantic the year before Shero took over, with Crosby on the team. Under Shero, they never finished lower than 2nd.

3 Conference Final appearances, 2 Cup Final appearances, 1 Cup. The fact that those results were a disappointment just tells me how dominant those teams were.

 

[Gurglesons]

Do you have a substantive argument to back up your position? Last time I checked the Penguins finished 5th in the Atlantic the year before Shero took over, with Crosby on the team. Under Shero, they never finished lower than 2nd.

3 Conference Final appearances, 2 Cup Final appearances, 1 Cup. The fact that those results were a disappointment just tells me how dominant those teams were.

Oh, it is because he didn't draft Forsberg or Saad, so Pens fans will forever think he is a bad GM.

 

[Roo Mad Bro]

A magician who is magically leading them to purgatory.

 

[VoidCreature]

A magician who is magically leading them to purgatory.

Because top draft picks are the only way to build a team, yes?

 

[LeafFever]

They're not really going anywhere though.

 

[SladeWilson23]

A magician who is magically leading them to purgatory.

I wish people actually knew of the Devils situation before making posts like this.

 

[LeafFever]

I wish people actually knew of the Devils situation before making posts like this.

They're really lacking top prospects upfront. 10th place is not a good situation.

 

[Roo Mad Bro]

I wish people actually knew of the Devils situation before making posts like this.

Only the Rangers have a bleaker future in the Metro.

 

[VoidCreature]

A magician who is magically leading them to purgatory.

They're really lacking top prospects upfront. 10th place is not a good situation.

Reid Boucher and Joe Blandisi, rookies called up half way through the season, are currently on pace for over 40 points each.

 

[SladeWilson23]

They're really lacking top prospects upfront. 10th place is not a good situation.

Like I said, I wish people actually knew the Devils situation before making comments like this.

 

[Church of Toews*]

Had he brought Kyle Palmieri to the Penguins, he'd likely still have a job there.

While he did make some good trades and signings for the Penguins, he left them in very, VERY rough shape. He's a 50/50 good/bad GM at best.

While Shero was dumb for trying to go all in basically every year, I can't help but feel that the entire organization may have been pressured into mortgaging parts of their future because lemieux expected Crosby and Malkin to be multiple cup winners like La and Chicago are now.

Edit: while the Pens still did lose a few prospects when he left they still had a really solid D pipeline of Letang,Maatta,Depres,Niskanen,Martin, and Orpik with a few other good players still in the system rutherford basically evaporated their D pipeline

 

[SladeWilson23]

Only the Rangers have a bleaker future in the Metro.

Prove it.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Just wait until he's exhausted all of Lou's assets and has to rely on his own picks.

 

[LeafFever]

Like I said, I wish people actually knew the Devils situation before making comments like this.

So they don't?

 

[VoidCreature]

Just wait until he's exhausted all of Lou's assets and has to rely on his own picks.

Like future superstar Stefan Matteau? He's said publicly, several times, that he isn't going to go all in every year like he did on the Penguins.

 

[Roo Mad Bro]

Prove it.

I can't "prove it". It's my opinion but I'll give you some reasons why.

-Schneider is elite and their best player. Problem is he's now 30 years old.

-No elite talents anywhere else both up front or on the back end. A lot of good pieces but no stars.

-Awful farm system that has 1 blue chip prospect in Zacha and he has some question marks about his game.

So in summary I see a team that is good enough to tread water because of Schneider for the next few years but they don't have the offensive talent to keep up with the rest of the Metro in the foreseeable future. They need a 1C and some offensive guys on the back end.

 

[VoidCreature]

I can't "prove it". It's my opinion but I'll give you some reasons why.

-Schneider is elite and their best player. Problem is he's now 30 years old.

-No elite talents anywhere else both up front or on the back end. A lot of good pieces but no stars.

-Awful farm system that has 1 blue chip prospect in Zacha and he has some question marks about his game.

So in summary I see a team that is good enough to tread water because of Schneider for the next few years but they don't have the offensive talent to keep up with the rest of the Metro in the foreseeable future. They need a 1C and some offensive guys on the back end.

Joseph Blandisi and Damon Severson are going to be star players. Count on it.

 

[SladeWilson23]

I can't "prove it". It's my opinion but I'll give you some reasons why.

-Schneider is elite and their best player. Problem is he's now 30 years old.

Being 30 is not a problem for goalies.

-No elite talents anywhere else both up front or on the back end. A lot of good pieces but no stars.

False

-Awful farm system that has 1 blue chip prospect in Zacha and he has some question marks about his game.

Again false.

So in summary I see a team that is good enough to tread water because of Schneider for the next few years but they don't have the offensive talent to keep up with the rest of the Metro in the foreseeable future. They need a 1C and some offensive guys on the back end.

You're not wrong about the team's needs. But you're forgetting about the cap situation the Devils are in which is a very favorable cap situation.

 

[Bending and Tending]

Do you have a substantive argument to back up your position? Last time I checked the Penguins finished 5th in the Atlantic the year before Shero took over, with Crosby on the team. Under Shero, they never finished lower than 2nd.

3 Conference Final appearances, 2 Cup Final appearances, 1 Cup. The fact that those results were a disappointment just tells me how dominant those teams were.

No, the disappointment was when that same core (who played in the Conference and Cup finals) lost 3 times in the first round and twice in the second round. He failed to provide the supporting pieces to the team.

 

[SAK11]

They're really lacking top prospects upfront. 10th place is not a good situation.

You don't need top picks to end up with top end players. Benn, Karlsson, Kuznetsov, Seguin, Thornton, Gaudreau, Pavelski, Kopitar, Burns, Wheeler, Panarin, Tarasenko, Giroux, Bergeron, and Kucherov make up 15 of the top 20 scorers this season. They were either picked outside the top 10, traded for by their teams, or signed out of the KHL [Panarin].

Shero's done a nice job this year for the Devils. He was all in for a number of years with Pittsburgh which had them trading a lot of picks & prospects for rentals/ vets. Very different situation in New Jersey as they aren't in win-now mode, so maybe he's better suited for that type of job that allows for some patience, and it's not as if he was terrible with Pittsburgh anyway.

 

[Rebels57]

Because top draft picks are the only way to build a team, yes?

Hes not wrong though..

Weak prospect pool, not bad enough to draft elite talent, not good enough for playoffs, current NHL roster is older and has a lot of cast offs, and not a prime free agency location.

 

[TT1]

lool DSP is a 4th liner, don't be fooled by his hot streak

but yes Matteau is trash