Ray Shero, former Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils general manager, has died at 62, the NHL announced Wednesday.
Shero had been serving as senior advisor for the Minnesota Wild since the 2021-22 season.
“Ray Shero’s smile and personality lit up every room he walked into and brightened the day of everyone he met,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in a statement. “Widely respected throughout hockey for his team-building acumen and eye for talent, he was even more beloved for how he treated everyone fortunate enough to have known him.”
As Penguins GM from 2006-14, Shero helped build the team that won the 2009 Stanley Cup during the Sidney Crosby era.
He later served as Devils GM from 2015-20, where he drafted franchise cornerstones Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt.
Shero began his NHL front office career as assistant general manager with the Ottawa Senators in 1993.
He then spent eight seasons as assistant GM under David Poile during the Nashville Predators’ formative years in the late 90s and early 2000s.
The respected executive also served on Team USA’s management teams for both the 2010 and 2014 Olympics.
“Whenever we ran into each other at a rink when he was scouting, it was clear he loved what he was doing, and I always marveled at his infectious enthusiasm,” Bettman said. “The entire National Hockey League family mourns his passing and sends our deepest condolences to the Shero family and Ray’s many friends throughout the hockey world.”
