Pittsburgh Penguins' Ray Shero Pushes All the Right Buttons

I’ve seen Ray Shero’s name dragged through the mud.  People mocked him when Marian Hossa signed with the Red Wings.  They ridiculed him when he fired Michel Therrien.  They wanted Colby Armstrong back, they missed Ryan Malone, they missed Ryan Whitney, they couldn’t believe someone would give up on Angelo Esposito.  Who did this guy think he was, anyway—a General Manager or something?

Maybe the best in hockey.

Since succeeding Craig Patrick a little more than 3 years ago, Shero has pushed all the right buttons, turning the young, talented team he inherited into a potential dynasty. 

The Penguins are currently playing at a pace that, if it is roughly upheld, would give them somewhere in the neighborhood of 107 points at season’s end.  This would be the second-best point total in franchise history, behind only the vaunted 1992-93 team.

That the Pens are doing this despite being decimated by injuries speaks volumes about the job Shero has done.  With the moves he has made—mostly little things that go under-the-radar—he’s given the organization quality depth while maintaining a core group of superstars.  It would be a tough job for anyone, and he’s making it look easy.

In the past two off-seasons, Pittsburgh has lost, among others, the following players to free agency:  Ryan Malone, Jarko Rutuu, Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill, Petr Sykora, Georges Laraque, Ty Conklin, Adam Hall, Gary Roberts, Marian Hossa, and Miroslav Satan.

Put them all together, that could be a play-off team.

Most of those guys left because the Pens couldn’t afford to pay them. Money can get tight when your top two centers are perpetually battling for the Art Ross Trophy.

But what makes Fred Shero’s son one of the best are the little moves, the ones that get quality guys for the right price.  Look around the locker room this season.

Here’s Mike Rupp, a guy with his name already on the Stanley Cup, who recently scored his ninth goal of the season, which gives him three more than he’s ever scored in any season.

There’s Jay McKee, a defenseman’s defenseman, who would be leading the league in blocked shots if he didn’t get hurt and miss a few games last month.

Blue-liner Martin Skoula has been a perfectly adequate replacement for Rob Scuderi, at one-third the price.

Ray has been getting guys like this for years.  Que Shero, Shero.

Bill Guerin was picked up last spring for next to nothing, and he has turned out to be the sidekick that Sidney Crosby has been hoping for and waiting for his entire career.

Here’s Craig Adams, another guy with his name on the Cup, picked up for nothing, a fourth-line forward with a nose for the puck and keen ability to kill penalties.  (He also scored one of the biggest goals of the ’09 playoffs in Game seven in Washington).

The now-departed Hall Gill, acquired for a second round pick, became one-half of the most important defensive combo in the ’09 playoffs.

Mark Eaton, Mike Zigomanis, Pascal Dupuis, Petr Sykora, Chris Kunitz…the list can seemingly go on forever.

Even what was thought to be Shero’s biggest mistake—botching the Marian Hossa situation—turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Shero willingly put all his chips on the table for Hossa, who was and still is the most talented winger Sidney Crosby has ever played with.  He was offered a generous seven-year deal that he seemed ready to jump on, until his agent intervened and talked him into taking a one-year offer from the Red Wings.

Since the Pens were tying up a certain amount of money for Hossa, they had to let certain players walk, such as Malone and Rutuu.  Only Ruslan Fedotenko and Miroslav Satan were still available in the discount winger aisle.

But then…there was money to go around.  Suddenly, Brooks Orpik was able to sign a long-term deal.  Tyler Kennedy was extended.  Later in the season, Jordan Staal re-signed for four years.

As for Marian Hossa in Detroit, well…you know.

Things were looking especially bad for Shero last February.  The Penguins had the two leading scores in the league (Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) but were in 10^th place in the Eastern Conference and in danger of missing the play-offs, which would have been a disaster.

So head coach Michel Therrien, who had led them to the brink of a Stanley Cup eight months before and had signed a three-year contract five months before, was shown the door.  A bold move for anyone to make.  And it was the right one. 

The team lost only three regular season games the rest of the way, and in the play-offs, well…you know.

Shero’s most important contribution was that he locked up the best core of young players in the NHL, ensuring the Penguins will be contenders for at least the foreseeable future.

Crosby and Staal are signed through 2014.  Malkin and Orpik are signed through 2015.  Star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is signed through 2016 .

If you thought there would be no supporting cast for the superstars, think again:  Alex Goligowski, Max Talbot, and Kennedy will be around until at least 2011.  The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are bursting at the seams with young talent.

And in the 2010 off-season, after the Pens possibly lose Sergei Gonchar, Matt Cooke, Fedotenko, and/or Guerin, there will be no cause for concern.  Shero will find the right guys to replace ‘em.  How could anyone think otherwise?

Some G.M.  Can’t believe that guy traded Colby Armstrong.

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