All good things must come to an end. The New Jersey Devils have relieved General Manager Ray Shero of his duties effective immediately. In this article, I’ll quickly go over his history with the team, and get the opinions of a few of a fellow writer in a roundtable type of article.
What a Terrible Season
This season has been terrible for the Devils, to say the least. Acquiring regressing defenseman PK Subban, drafting Jack Hughes after another terrible season last year, trading away Taylor Hall, amongst others.
What happened? The Devils had been regressing every year until acquiring Hall, they made the playoffs one year by overachieving massively. The Devils fell back down to earth the following season, resulting in drafting first overall picks in 2 out of 3 seasons.
Shero has been GM since 2015, and in his 5-year tenure, the Devils have only made the playoffs once.
Despite a very productive offseason, acquiring Subban, Hughes, Wayne Simmonds, Nikita Gusev, as well as others, it was supposed to be the year to prove to Taylor Hall that New Jersey wanted him.
The season has gone off the rails for the Devils and Hall was traded. Head coach John Hynes was given the boot, and now Ray Shero is out of a job.
Opinions
Before I give my opinion, I’ll show the opinions of fellow writers at Overtime Heroics.
@NJD_Broncos_Avs: I’m completely shocked. Shero is a great general manager but I think it was the right decision. When your season is going like this, you need to make changes. In a season like this, changes need to happen. We weren’t going anywhere so this is what you need to do in a rebuild.
@KapsBrokenStick: I mean, personally, I’m a bit puzzled. Ray Shero had what I would consider one of THE best offseason’s this league has seen in a long time. The only issue is, the players underperformed, and that’s not necessarily on him. I think if the New Jersey Devils were going to boot him, they should’ve done so before letting him trade their star player. Where are they going now? Are they rebuilding? The only thing we know right now is it’s not Ray Shero’s problem anymore.
My opinion: Things happen. Lately in hockey, management has had to take more responsibility for on-ice performance, and I like it. The Devils have been mediocre for the last little while and things were just getting worse. It was time for a change. Shero had gotten his chance and it failed. I’m surprised about this move, but I genuinely like it.
In Conclusion
It’s not confirmed yet if it is a firing, or a mutual part of ways. Tom Fitzgerald is the interim GM, and Martin Brodeur has been given the role of a senior hockey advisor.
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