Former National Hockey League General Manager Ray Shero of Saint Paul, Minnesota passed away at the age of 62 on Wednesday. According to Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Hockey Now, the official cause of death has not been reported, but it is believed to be cancer related as Shero was undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of cancer.
What teams were Shero the general manager for?
Shero was the general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2006 to 2014. He was the general manager of the Penguins when they won the 2009 Stanley Cup, the third Stanley Cup in the history of the franchise.
At the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Shero made an interesting selection. He chose center Jordan Staal of Thunder Bay, Ontario over forwards Jonathan Toews of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Nicklas Backstrom of Valbo, Sweden, Phil Kessel of Madison, Wisconsin, Claude Giroux of Hearst, Ontario, and Brad Marchand of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Then from 2015 to 2020, Shero was the general manager of the New Jersey Devils. Like in Pittsburgh, he also had the duties of executive vice president of hockey operations.
While in New Jersey, Shero is best remembered for trades the Devils made with the Edmonton Oilers and Nashville Predators. On June 29, 2016, the Devils acquired Taylor Hall of Calgary, Alberta for Swedish defenseman Adam Larsson. Hall became the first Devils player ever to win the Hart Trophy. Then on June 22, 2019, the Devils acquired defenseman P.K. Subban in a deal with Nashville. Shero also drafted Nico Hischier of Brig, Switzerland first overall in the 2017 NHL Draft and Jack Hughes of Orlando, Florida first overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Shero’s other NHL jobs
Shero was the assistant general manager with the Ottawa Senators from 1993 to 1998, and with the Nashville Predators from 1998 to 2006. Since 2021 up until his death, Shero was a senior advisor for the Minnesota Wild.
