Ray Shero and Devils Part Ways Effective Immediately

[Daniel]

1 hour ago, MadDog2020 said:

https://www.nj.com/devils/2020/01/the-devils-problem-maybe-co-owner-josh-harris-should-look-in-a-mirror-politi.html

I really dislike sports writers like Politi.  Everyone who posts on this board with some regularity knows a million times more about the NHL and Devils than he does.  It’s a piece that any season ticket holder could have written if they just had a couple of hours and an editor.

We’re not asking anyone to bug Harris’s office and home.  But it would be nice if occasionally we got some insight into what was actually going on within the organization.  Like why they actually fired the GM in such a shocking fashion, and I don’t mean just quoting what they said at a press conference.

[devlman]

I’m more annoyed at the insulting ‘press conference’ Harris gave the more I think about it. Pure owner-speak, no specifics. Bizarre timing. I mean he signed off on letting Hall be traded but god forbid we get some potentially exciting pieces for a 30 year old winger. Still doesn’t add up. That’s why I still feel that they were pro tank and Shero was the one saying no to that.

[Satans Hockey]

5 minutes ago, devlman said:

I’m more annoyed at the insulting ‘press conference’ Harris gave the more I think about it. Pure owner-speak, no specifics. Bizarre timing. I mean he signed off on letting Hall be traded but god forbid we get some potentially exciting pieces for a 30 year old winger. Still doesn’t add up. That’s why I still feel that they were pro tank and Shero was the one saying no to that.

Those Palms rumors are just rumors. Politi who also wrote that trash article is yapping about it as speculation. 

It's pathetic how easy it is to get a blue check on Twitter nowadays. 

 

[SterioDesign]

Yeah... i don't know... I mean after all the moves we made last summer... I'm pretty sure there was a discussion at some point setting some sort of expectations.

We knew going in the season that....

• Hall might not re-sign so he'd have to be traded.
• Subban was already trending down, which is why we got him on a deal.
• Gusev would require time to adjust to the NHL, not a guarantee.
• Hughes would need time to adjust too.
• That our D corp was not great
• Schneider was a HUGE question mark but we had to at least give him one last shot with how he finished the season. So goaltending could be a big issue...

So while most were optimistic... we had to know there was a chance some of those moves don't fully pan out. Just the goaltending by itself could have sunk the team, we talked about it plenty before the season started... and it sure did. The goaltending was one of the big issue if not the biggest why we lost so many games early. 

So... we went through a bunch of those... Subban is starting to find his game... Gusev too... Hughes too... Blackwood is surprisingly solid now... things are falling into place so why fire Shero now when his plan is finally starting to flourish? 

You truly don't just look at current standings and our record and ignore the kinks we'd possibly have to work through. The Blues management didn't trade all their players in january when they are at the bottom of the league, cause they knew the group they had should be getting better results, just like our group was supposed to and we're starting to see it now

Edited January 14, 2020 by SterioDesign

[titans04]

Nothing about a guy like Palmieri is worthy of canning your GM imo. I think any writer focusing on that angle is assuming and mistaken. Palmieri IF he was made available might be the best available Devil because of the extra year. I would however think there's probably some even better players available across the league. We'll never know for sure who those guys are. 

I'm not really in anyway going to bat for Ray. In the end and along the way I think I've been pretty neutral. I'm way more disturbed listening to the press conf and my real concern is my perceived incompetence of the owners. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by titans04

[moustic]

Wherever Shero ends... We will be the new Pittsburg for this new team... Look at Shero moving piece to bring "ex-Devils players" ; ) 

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

2 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

Yeah... i don't know... I mean after all the moves we made last summer... I'm pretty sure there was a discussion at some point setting some sort of expectations.

We knew going in the season that....

• Hall might not re-sign so he'd have to be traded.
• Subban was already trending down, which is why we got him on a deal.
• Gusev would require time to adjust to the NHL, not a guarantee.
• Hughes would need time to adjust too.
• That our D corp was not great
• Schneider was a HUGE question mark but we had to at least give him one last shot with how he finished the season. So goaltending could be a big issue...

So while most were optimistic... we had to know there was a chance some of those moves don't fully pan out. Just the goaltending by itself could have sunk the team, we talked about it plenty before the season started... and it sure did. The goaltending was one of the big issue if not the biggest why we lost so many games early. 

So... we went through a bunch of those... Subban is starting to find his game... Gusev too... Hughes too... Blackwood is surprisingly solid now... things are falling into place so why fire Shero now when his plan is finally starting to flourish? 

You truly don't just look at current standings and our record and ignore the kinks we'd possibly have to work through. The Blues management didn't trade all their players in january when they are at the bottom of the league, cause they knew the group they had should be getting better results, just like our group was supposed to and we're starting to see it now

Ray has kicked tyres on making the moves to address this season's poor performance, and that is what I feel is the most likely reason he has been let go. 

I think if Ray sent Cory down in the summer for a stint in Bing and brought a solid FA backup to split with blackwood and then cans Hynes after 15 games rather than when he did he probably still has a job. 

[vadvlfan]

6 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

Yeah... i don't know... I mean after all the moves we made last summer... I'm pretty sure there was a discussion at some point setting some sort of expectations.

We knew going in the season that....

• Hall might not re-sign so he'd have to be traded.
• Subban was already trending down, which is why we got him on a deal.
• Gusev would require time to adjust to the NHL, not a guarantee.
• Hughes would need time to adjust too.
• That our D corp was not great
• Schneider was a HUGE question mark but we had to at least give him one last shot with how he finished the season. So goaltending could be a big issue...

So while most were optimistic... we had to know there was a chance some of those moves don't fully pan out. Just the goaltending by itself could have sunk the team, we talked about it plenty before the season started... and it sure did. The goaltending was one of the big issue if not the biggest why we lost so many games early. 

So... we went through a bunch of those... Subban is starting to find his game... Gusev too... Hughes too... Blackwood is surprisingly solid now... things are falling into place so why fire Shero now when his plan is finally starting to flourish? 

You truly don't just look at current standings and our record and ignore the kinks we'd possibly have to work through. The Blues management didn't trade all their players in january when they are at the bottom of the league, cause they knew the group they had should be getting better results, just like our group was supposed to and we're starting to see it now

good points. I think too that holding onto Hynes was probably a mistake. And I'll bet Ray didn't want to fire him, but was told to do so.  Just like when he stuck w/ Bylsma in the Berg.

Ray, you gave us a 5 year plan, and it's not improving. Bye.

[NJDfan1711]

17 hours ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Going from an assistant GM to a front office "marketing" type role seems like a step back to me. 

It doesn't to me when you're going back to the organization you played for and the place you lived for 20+ years.  It's sort of a situation like "This is what I want to do, and I tried it for a short while, but this is where I meant to be and where I'm meant to do it".

 

[mfitz804]

This entire thread is cracking me up. Some people’s ability to speculate as to what is going on when they have absolutely no knowledge on the topic is amazing.

[NJDfan1711]

35 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

This entire thread is cracking me up. Some people’s ability to speculate as to what is going on when they have absolutely no knowledge on the topic is amazing.

Isn't that the point of a discussion board though?  You had the same problem when people (including me) were trying to guess when they thought Hall and/or Hynes would be gone.  You're nothing if you're not consistent though, I'll give you that  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, mfitz804 said:

This entire thread is cracking me up. Some people’s ability to speculate as to what is going on when they have absolutely no knowledge on the topic is amazing.

Sure, some takes are going to sound more off-base and out there than others, but when something like this happens, yeah, everyone from the fans to the media are going to come up with theories and ideas as to what led to this.  As we know, it's pretty rare that owners and GMs come right out and say exactly what went down, word for word...they tend to give you just enough that you're left to try to read between the lines and see what you can figure out.  So far as I know we haven't heard a peep from Shero yet, so that alone will lead many to wonder aloud (as in on boards like this) "What the hell happened?"  

Fans speculate on stuff all of the time (especially scenarios where there's plenty of room for that, such as Shero getting canned despite apparently having inked a four-year extension not so long ago), despite almost NEVER having any inside info on their teams' actual day-to-day operations.  Maybe such discussion can seem kinda pointless at times (I posted an initial take that could very well be 100% wrong, but based on the info that was out there at the time, I came up with one possible scenario and thought I'd share it)...but you'll find plenty of people who think following certain (or ANY) sports are pointless to begin with.  I can't talk about football for more than five minutes with my father-in-law before moms-in-law starts rolling her eyes and making sarcastic comments.     

[Steadevils]

My main worry is how this went down. Shero is relationship builder who is well liked across widely across the league and the way he was dismissed was belittling to Shero and embarrassing for the franchise. Even if you 100% agree with the firing you can't be impressed with how ownership went about it and then fumbled their way through a press conference with no real reasons.  Hynes and Shero were both let go right before games with off-days following...seems like an absolute clown show from a PR standpoint and from caring at all about allowing your players to focus on the games in hand. I'd bet the disorganized manner with how this was handled diminishes the Devils in the mind of many across the hockey community. 

 

Now to add my no knowledge speculation for Mfitz. The only explanation that makes sense to me that I have seen bandied about is: The owners already know they want Fitzgerald to be the future GM, so they want let him start now with the lead-up to the trade deadline and draft. But again, if that is what ownership wants to do just own that, say that, and don't do it 2 hours before a game....

[HellOnICE]

3 hours ago, vadvlfan said:

good points. I think too that holding onto Hynes was probably a mistake. And I'll bet Ray didn't want to fire him, but was told to do so.  Just like when he stuck w/ Bylsma in the Berg.

Ray, you gave us a 5 year plan, and it's not improving. Bye.

Ray wasn't given a choice with Hynes, but that came from the team. Not ownership. The team quit on him, once that happens, forces the hand.

[SterioDesign]

16 minutes ago, Steadevils said:

My main worry is how this went down. Shero is relationship builder who is well liked across widely across the league and the way he was dismissed was belittling to Shero and embarrassing for the franchise. Even if you 100% agree with the firing you can't be impressed with how ownership went about it and then fumbled their way through a press conference with no real reasons.  Hynes and Shero were both let go right before games with off-days following...seems like an absolute clown show from a PR standpoint and from caring at all about allowing your players to focus on the games in hand. I'd bet the disorganized manner with how this was handled diminishes the Devils in the mind of many across the hockey community. 

 

Now to add my no knowledge speculation for Mfitz. The only explanation that makes sense to me that I have seen bandied about is: The owners already know they want Fitzgerald to be the future GM, so they want let him start now with the lead-up to the trade deadline and draft. But again, if that is what ownership wants to do just own that, say that, and don't do it 2 hours before a game....

yeah i'm actually not familiar with the owners too much like some of you guys. But to me it reeks a typical super rich guy with no full understanding of how things works who usually gets things done by throwing money at problems. And had a fit and pulled the trigger and it had to happen NOW. There was no reason not to wait til the next day or wtv to do it.

I mean why would you fire your GM that is loved by all the players and coaches (i assume) hours before they play one of the best team of the league, on a back to back, with their backup goalie. Right after they won against the cup champions the day before. Turns out we won but that's still not how you should do things.

For awhile i worked for the owner of the Acadie-Bathurst Titans from que QMJHL. And i was surprised so often by things he'd say. Stuff you'd expect from random fans with no patience and full understanding but not from someone running the actual team. Hell his team drafted Mario Lemieux, Luongo, Kovalchuk, Bergeron etc etc in juniors, you'd think he'd have more common sense than that but nope. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by SterioDesign

[EdgeControl]

10 hours ago, MadDog2020 said:

I think people were more shocked at the timing than anything. Harris announced it literally an hour before a game.

Yes but getting it in before the all star date makes sense 

[NJDevs4978]

10 hours ago, Satans Hockey said:

Those Palms rumors are just rumors. Politi who also wrote that trash article is yapping about it as speculation. 

It's pathetic how easy it is to get a blue check on Twitter nowadays. 

 

BTW Palm is out through the All-Star Game and Nico is taking his place there. So Politi already looks like a jackass

[SterioDesign]

Just now, NJDevs4978 said:

BTW Palm is out through the All-Star Game and Nico is taking his place there. So Politi already looks like a jackass

especially after we all saw Palms blocking a shot and getting to the bench in pain

[nessus]

If there's one place where Shero shines, it's in trades. In a season where the team is at the bottom of the standings, and may have some pretty good assets to trade, you'd think ownership would want an experienced GM to be around for the weeks leading up to the trade deadline. Instead, they've got Fitzgerald, who I don't doubt is capable, but doesn't seem thrilled about the outcome. It doesn't add up. Lost season, so there doesn't seem to be any urgency to get rid of Shero. Plus his recent extension suggests that management was okay with the trajectory and the disappointing first several seasons. Maybe Ray wanted to get out.

[Devil Dan 56]

4 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

yeah i'm actually not familiar with the owners too much like some of you guys. But to me it reeks a typical super rich guy with no full understanding of how things works who usually gets things done by throwing money at problems. And had a fit and pulled the trigger and it had to happen NOW. There was no reason not to wait til the next day or wtv to do it.

I mean why would you fire your GM that is loved by all the players and coaches (i assume) hours before they play one of the best team of the league, on a back to back, with their backup goalie. Right after they won against the cup champions the day before. Turns out we won but that's still not how you should do things.

The professional thing to do would have been to announce it Monday morning. Doing it right before the game it came off as a very rushed decision. 

My guess is they were discussing possible trade scenarios or the coaching situation and it became apparent that Shero and the owners were no longer on the same page. They may have announced it like they did so it didn't leak but I still didn't like how it was done

[Jerzey]

Seems to me like an argument broke out and Shero was fired on the spot by an angry owner. That’s why it was announced right before the game.

[Devil Dan 56]

16 minutes ago, nessus said:

If there's one place where Shero shines, it's in trades. In a season where the team is at the bottom of the standings, and may have some pretty good assets to trade, you'd think ownership would want an experienced GM to be around for the weeks leading up to the trade deadline. Instead, they've got Fitzgerald, who I don't doubt is capable, but doesn't seem thrilled about the outcome. It doesn't add up. Lost season, so there doesn't seem to be any urgency to get rid of Shero. Plus his recent extension suggests that management was okay with the trajectory and the disappointing first several seasons. Maybe Ray wanted to get out.

I think that's exactly why he was dropped though. I think the owners extended him and were on board and then things changed when this season became like last season again. They have to be getting tired of the endless trading of assets. Just a few examples:
 

Traded for Palmieri and now he's rumored to be on the trading block

Traded for Hall and then traded him away

Traded for Mojo then traded him away

Traded for Vats and now he's on the block

 

By acquiring these players to help build something and then trading them away again, it shows that things probably weren't progressing the right way or these guys would still be part of the plan. 

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

6 minutes ago, Jerzey said:

Seems to me like an argument broke out and Shero was fired on the spot by an angry owner. That’s why it was announced right before the game.

That wouldn't come as any great shock...especially if Shero was already skating on increasingly thin ice (forgot how fond the owners were of Hall, maybe how that whole situation was handled was what ticked off Harris and Blitzer the most).  Sometimes it really is that simple...a disagreement that blows up into a screaming match and with everyone's dander up and in a heated moment, someone either quits or loses his job.  

If something like that happened, wouldn't surprise me if it started with Shero proposing trading some vets for down-the-road pieces, ownership saying something along the lines of "Wait, you've already had almost five years, you just added a bunch of salary, and now assets that were supposed to help are being dealt away for...what exactly?  When is it that your plan starts to pay off?"  Then some words back and forth, escalation, plenty of yelling...and a roaring "THAT'S IT...YOU'RE FIIIIIIIIIIIRED!"

[Devil Dan 56]

1 minute ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

If something like that happened, wouldn't surprise me if it started with Shero proposing trading some vets for down-the-road pieces, ownership saying something along the lines of "Wait, you've already had almost five years, you just added a bunch of salary, and now assets that were supposed to help are being dealt away for...what exactly?  When is it that your plan starts to pay off?"  Then some words back and forth, escalation, plenty of yelling...and a roaring "THAT'S IT...YOU'RE FIIIIIIIIIIIRED!"

This is the stance that i assume ownership has as well. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

2 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

This is the stance that i assume ownership has as well. 

I also wouldn't be all that surprised if, assuming one final blow-up between Shero and ownership did actually occur, if there was something along the lines of "YOU were the ones who insisted that I go get Subban!  I didn't even really want to make that move!"  Does feel like that one might have been owner-driven...but of course, I could be dead wrong on that.