Trash Shero all you like, but Zacha being a Devil instead of Barzal is on Lou imo..
How do you even know they would have taken Barzal instead of Zacha?
The draft was June 25th. Shero was hired by the Devils May 4th. That's almost 8 weeks to assess the draft. Shero was hired to be the Devils GM and be in control of everything and handle all GM duties.
It's not like he was some inexperienced newbie intern that Lou had to show the ropes. He had executive experience with 3 different NHL clubs over 20 years, the last 8 of them being a GM.
And Lou was kicked upstairs, essentially in a non-essential figurehead position. He was practically fired as history shows and would be in Toronto in a just few short weeks anyway.
Shero was 100% in control of the team at the draft. Conte jjust gave his opinion, but Shero had the final say. See the link below. Shero even had a first hand look at Zacha at the World Championships in Europe. He even traded for Palmieri on draft day. So why on earth are you bringing up Lou as to the drafting on Zacha?
5 things we know about the Devils' draft preparations