Devils' Lamoriello Steps Down, Hires Ray Shero: Initial Thoughts and Questions

When it became known that New Jersey Devils boss Lou Lamoriello was holding a press conference on Monday, speculation abounded as to what the topic of the meeting could be. But seemingly no one predicted what the Devils boss of over 20 years was about to do.

After 27 years as president and general manager of the New Jersey Devils, Lamoriello hired Ray Shero to take over the position of general manager. Lamoriello will stay with the team as president.

Though the out-of-the blue nature of the announcement made it a definite shock (one of Lamoriello's specialties has always been keeping news from the media, after all), in a way, the writing was on the wall for Lamoriello.

The team missed the postseason for the third consecutive season this year, the worst stretch of Lamoriello's tenure in charge. The team's forward corps is embarrassingly thin, both at the NHL and AHL levels. The Devils were one of the oldest teams in the NHL last season, another sign that the roster is in need of some overhaul. Of course, it is Lamoriello who put together that roster.

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In short, the question of whether or not Lamoriello, 73, has failed to keep up with the changing NHL was already in the minds of fans and seemingly ownership as well. It is unfair to depict Lamoriello as a hapless relic of the past, of course, as the Devils did make the Stanley Cup Final in 2011-12.

But since then, the team has unequivocally struggled, with Lamoriello's questionable personnel decisions at the forefront of New Jersey's issues.

So while the abruptness of the change in management made Monday's announcement a surprise, it is certainly not the case that the Devils did not have reasons to make a change.

Though the full impact of this change will be massive in scope and tough to measure until Shero gets a few months into his new position, there are some initial thoughts and questions to be discussed.

Ownership Pushed for this Change

Though Lamoriello told Tom Gulitti of Fire and Ice and other members of the media, "This is my decision with 100 percent support of ownership—Mr. Josh Harris and Mr. David Blitzer," Gulitti claims otherwise. 

He reports that, "Although Lamoriello said this change was his decision, a source said Devils' co-owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer pushed him in this direction after the team missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season."

Harris and Blitzer became the owners of the Devils prior to the 2013-14 season and have now overseen two of the team's least successful seasons of the last 25 years. That they were willing to force such a move after such a short time in charge seems to indicate both that Harris and Blitzer are serious about the success of the Devils as well as how far opinions of Lamoriello have fallen in recent years.

Though the owners pushed for Lamoriello to hire a new general manager, Gulitti also reported that the hiring process was left to Lamoriello. So Lamoriello handpicked Shero to take over the Devils.

Shero's Past Experience

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Shero, 52, has spent the last 22 years in NHL management. He served as an assistant general manager with the Ottawa Senators from 1993-1998 and with the Nashville Predators from 1998-2006. 

Prior to the 2006-07 season, he became the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that had not made the playoffs since 2000-01. 

Shero's time in Pittsburgh was quite successful. The Penguins made the playoffs in every season Shero was with the team, making the Stanley Cup Final in 2007-08 and winning the Stanley Cup in 2008-09. 

But it is important to note that the young group of players that powered Pittsburgh to a championship in 2008-09 was largely drafted before Shero's time in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury were all added before Shero took over in 2006. 

This is not to say that Shero played no role in Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup victory. In his first NHL entry draft in charge of the Penguins, in 2006, Shero selected Jordan Staal with the second overall pick. Staal went on to play in all 82 regular-season games and all 24 playoff games for Pittsburgh in 2008-09, picking up 49 points in the regular season and another nine during the playoffs.

Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, both signed prior to the 2008-09 season, added 75 points during the regular season and another 20 during the playoffs. He also managed to add young Chris Kunitz and veteran Bill Guerin in separate trades toward the end of the season. Kunitz had 14 points in the playoffs and remains a top player in Pittsburgh today. Guerin was third on the team in points during the playoffs.

So Shero clearly knows how to build a winner via the trade and free-agent markets. But he started with more young offensive talent in Pittsburgh than New Jersey has now, though, the Devils have better goaltending and defensemen than Pittsburgh did at the time. 

Perhaps the most common criticism levied against Shero during his time in Pittsburgh was that he did not draft well. But much like similar criticisms against Lamoriello over the last 10 years, these must be taken with a grain of salt. Because the Penguins did so well under Shero, he rarely had high draft picks.

As mentioned previously, his first-ever draft choice was Staal with the second choice in the 2006 NHL entry draft. After that, Shero only had one pick above 20th overall.

His other first-round picks are a series of hits and misses, somewhat understandable given how low the choices were. Beau Bennett, taken 20th in 2010, and Olli Maatta, taken 22nd in 2012, both have already spent considerable, productive time with the Penguins. Other players such as Angelo Esposito and Joe Morrow have yet to succeed at the NHL level.

In the later rounds, Shero found a few successful players in goalie Chad Johnson, defender Jake Muzzin and defender Brian Strait, but there is limited success outside of those players.

So there may be some truth to claims that Shero is a substandard drafter, but given that he had consistently low draft choices, it is hard to be too critical.

Shero was fired after the 2013-14 season after a fifth consecutive trip to the playoffs that ended before the Stanley Cup Final.

What Will the Relationship Between Shero and Lamoriello Be?

One would expect Shero to have control over roster decisions, as getting Lamoriello away from such duties was likely part of the goal of pressuring him to step down. But Lamoriello will still be present in New Jersey.

The relationship between the two men will be an interesting development to watch as Shero begins to settle into his new job. Will the secrecy and categorical order of the Lamoriello era remain the law of the land for players? Will Shero be asked to follow Lamoriello's way as well?

Or will the Devils' culture become dictated by Shero, as Lamoriello and his influence slowly fall away? 

Only time will tell.

The Bylsma Connection

For the majority of Shero's time in Pittsburgh, the Penguins were coached by Dan Bylsma. 

Bylsma, who won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2008-09, was fired in the same offseason as Shero and remains jobless. Could New Jersey be the home of a reunion for the two?

When Gulitti asked Shero about this connection, he was quick to distance himself from any ideas of an immediate reunion:

"

I'm sure people will ask that based upon our working together in the past and having some success or winning the Cup together. That's nothing that I have any preconceived notion on at all. I believe Dan is a really good coach. He'll be a head coach again in the National Hockey League, but I've got to do what's best for the Devils and Dan's got to do what's best for him and if that leads us a certain way, so be it. But, as I speak to you now, there's certainly no preconceived notion on any persons or player or staff member.

"

Of course, at this moment, Shero would be a fool to say anything other than what he has. Shero's hiring by no means makes Bylsma a lock to be the Devils' next head coach. But it very well may increase the odds that we see him behind the bench for New Jersey in 2016.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, Shero's hiring marks a massive move forward for the New Jersey Devils. Though Lamoriello obviously could not stay in charge forever, the end of his tenure has always seemed like only a distant reality. Clearly, that reality is not distant anymore.

But for as massive a change as this is for New Jersey, it does not in any way change what the Devils need to do this offseason. The Devils still need to add goal scorers and some experience to the defense corps. Now a different man will be in charge of making those changes, but the necessary changes themselves do not change.

In the coming weeks, fans and the media will remember Lamoriello's time in charge of the Devils and begin to project what Shero's time in New Jersey might look like. But in the end, all that will matter is whether or not Shero can do a better job of making the Devils competitive by the time the start of the 2015-16 season rolls around.