Ray Shero

Rejean "Ray" Shero (born July 28, 1962 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is the current general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was hired on May 25, 2006, replacing Craig Patrick. He is the son of former Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers coach Fred Shero.

Hockey career

Shero played his college hockey for the St. Lawrence University Skating Saints, captaining the team from 1983–85. He was drafted 216th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 1982, but never played professional hockey.

GM career

Before joining the Penguins in 2006, Shero was an assistant GM first for the Ottawa Senators from 1993–98 and then for the Nashville Predators from their entrance into the league in 1998 until 2006.

Penguins 2006–present

In his first season on the job with the Penguins, Shero made a small splash in the free agent market, signing forwards Mark Recchi and Jarkko Ruutu, along with defenceman Mark Eaton. In addition to these moves, he traded for forwards Nils Ekman and Dominic Moore, after drafting center Jordan Staal with the second overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. This choice paid immediate dividends, as Staal would score 29 goals and 42 points in his rookie year with fellow rookie Evgeni Malkin.

At the trading deadline of the 2006–07 NHL season, Shero swung two major trades, sending Noah Welch to the Florida Panthers for veteran Gary Roberts, and sending Daniel Carcillo and a draft pick to the Phoenix Coyotes for enforcer Georges Laraque.

Shero made several tweaks to his club during the next offseason, signing defenceman Darryl Sydor, forwards Petr Sýkora and Jeff Taffe, and backup goaltender Dany Sabourin. Shero also took several steps to ensure that his nucleus of talent remained in Pittsburgh by re-signing defenceman Ryan Whitney to a six year, $24 million contract extension, and re-signing center and captain Sidney Crosby to a five year, $43.5 million extension.

On July 16, 2007, Shero announced that he had re-signed head coach Michel Therrien to a one year extension through the 2008–09 NHL season.

The trading deadline of the 2007–08 NHL season brought two other major trades for Shero and the Pittsburgh Penguins, sending Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, prospect Angelo Esposito, and a future draft pick for the Atlanta Thrashers' Marián Hossa and Pascal Dupuis, as well as bringing the Toronto Maple Leafs' defensemen Hal Gill to his team for two future draft picks.

Major transactions

• 24-Jun-06 Drafted Jordan Staal second overall in the 2006 entry draft in Vancouver.
• 04-Jul-06 Named Andre Savard assistant coach; signed defenceman Mark Eaton, who had been with the Nashville Predators, to a two-year contract.
• 15-Jul-06 Named Chuck Fletcher assistant general manager and Ed Johnston senior advisor of hockey operations.
• 02-Jul-07 Signed right wing Petr Sykora, who had been with the Edmonton Oilers.
• 26-Feb-08 Acquired right wing Marian Hossa and left wing Pascal Dupuis from the Atlanta Thrashers for centres Erik Christensen and Angelo Esposito, right wing Colby Armstrong and a 2008 first-round pick; acquired defenceman Hal Gill from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2008 second-round pick and a 2009 fifth-round pick
• 04-Jul-08 Signed left wing Ruslan Fedotenko and right wing Miroslav Satan to one-year contracts
• 05-Jul-08 Signed left wing Matt Cooke to a two-year contract.
• 04-Aug-08 Named Dan Bylsma head coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
• 19-Nov-08 Acquired defenceman Philippe Boucher from the Dallas Stars for defenceman Darryl Sydor.
• 18-Jan-09 Acquired goaltender Mathieu Garon from the Edmonton Oilers for goaltender Dany Sabourin, centre Ryan Stone and a 2011 fourth-round pick.
• 15-Feb-09 Fired coach Michel Therrien; named Dan Bylsma as interim coach.
• 26-Feb-09 Acquired left wings Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenceman Ryan Whitney.
• 04-Mar-09 Claimed right wing Craig Adams off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks; acquired right winger Bill Guerin from the New York Islanders for a conditional draft pick.
• 28-Apr-09 Removed interim tag from Dan Bylsma's title and named him coach and agreed on a multi-year contract.
• 09-Jul-09 Signed Defensemen Jay McKee to a one-year contract.
• 01-Jul-10 Signed free agent defenseman Zybnek Michalek to a five year, $20 million contract.
• 01-Jul-10 Signed free agent defenseman Paul Martin to a five year $25 million contract.
• 21-Feb-11 Acquired left wing James Neal and defenceman Matt Niskanen from the Dallas Stars for defenceman Alex Goligoski.
• 24-Feb-11 Acquired right wing Alexei Kovalev from the Ottawa Senators for a conditional 7th round draft pick.

References

• Hockey Smarts Run in Shero Family at NHL.com 7 Aug 2006.
• Bio at Hockey Draft Central
• Ray Shero's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Craig Patrick

General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2006 – present

Incumbent