After firing head coach John Hynes and trading away former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, the New Jersey Devils’ tumultuous season continues with the dismissal of general manager Ray Shero.
The New Jersey Devils shocked their fanbase and the entire hockey world Sunday evening, as the team announced it parted ways with general manager Ray Shero. This season has not gone as planned in the Garden State, as Shero’s dismissal is the latest domino to fall in a series of sweeping changes, with former coach John Hynes and former league MVP Taylor Hall already being shown the door.
After making numerous significant changes this past offseason, the Devils were a popular breakout pick among many hockey experts and journalists, with many predicting them to sneak into the playoffs. However, the complete opposite has occurred thus far, with the franchise occupying the basement of the Metropolitan Division, and currently finding itself among the NHL’s worst teams.
This Devils season was supposed to be different. After missing the playoffs in all but one season with Ray Shero in charge, the experienced GM made several smart acquisitions this past offseason, with the hope of bringing playoff hockey back to New Jersey in 2020.
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Shero drafted Jack Hughes with the first overall pick, acquired All-Star defenseman PK Subban for pennies on the dollar, signed hard-nosed winger Wayne Simmonds to a low-risk short-term contract, and plucked talented winger Nikita Gusev, arguably the best player outside the NHL, away from the cap-strapped Vegas Golden Knights.
However, none of these new additions have impacted the Devils in the way Shero had anticipated. All the newcomers took a while to adapt to their new surroundings and have finally started to get going after slow starts.
Gusev became one of the team’s best players following the Taylor Hall trade, as the Russian winger received a sizable bump in playing time and now has 26 points as of the season’s halfway mark. Hughes has consistently improved after each game he has suited up for, while Subban has begun to turn his season around after a long scoring drought.
During his time as GM, Shero made many shrewd moves to help improve the Devils. He will forever be remembered for fleecing the Edmonton Oilers by acquiring future MVP Taylor Hall in exchange for a second pairing defenseman in Adam Larsson.
He also acquired an extremely talented winger in Kyle Palmieri on the cheap and uncovered a sixth-round steal in Jesper Bratt. Furthermore, key members of the team’s core such as Nico Hischier, Blake Coleman, and Pavel Zacha have developed nicely under Shero’s leadership.
It is a shame that Shero will not be around to see his vision through, as the team had started to improve under interim head coach Alain Nasreddine. This firing comes at an extremely strange time, as the Devils had just pulled off a massive upset the night before, handily defeating the Washington Capitals 5-1.
For now, Tom Fitzgerald and Devils legend Martin Brodeur will be tasked with guiding the Devils through the latest stage of their rebuild in hopes of returning to the postseason in the near future. It will be interesting to see whether the team will stay the course, hold a fire sale, or look to make hockey trades as a method of improving their roster.
The Devils have a talented young core, proven and reliable veterans, and more exciting young prospects on the way, so perhaps a potential return to the postseason is not as far off as many people think.