Ray Shero

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Rejean "Ray" Shero (born 28 July 1962 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is the current general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was hired on 25 May 2006, replacing Craig Patrick.

Ray is the son of Philadelphia Flyers coach Fred Shero.

[edit] Hockey career

Shero played his college hockey for the St. Lawrence University Skating Saints, captaining the team from 1983–1985. He was drafted by the LA Kings in 1982, but never played in the NHL.

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

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 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 Sykora 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 6 year, $24 million contract extension, and re-signing center and captain Sidney Crosby to a 5 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' Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis, as well as bringing the Toronto Maple Leafs' defensemen Hal Gill to his team for two future draft picks.