On the New Jersey Devils …
Tom Gulitti of the Record: Devils GM Ray Shero isn’t changing his approach despite the Devils being in the playoff race. They are keeping their focus on the long-term, and are not interested in giving up a high draft picks for rental.
“Nothing’s changed,” Shero said Tuesday night. “Nothing’s changed from really when I was hired in terms of the bigger picture and things like that. There’s five games to go before the deadline and this team has been doing a good job, but we have five games left and, in terms of where we’re going to be in five games, I don’t know, but as we sit here in mid February we’re at least in the conversation. We’ve been in and around a playoff spot and the coaches and the players deserve a lot of credit for that.
“But, from the general manager’s standpoint, the idea of trading draft picks for immediate help for unrestricted free agents, that’s consistent. That’s not something we’re going to be doing. If there’s something that can improve the team in other ways that makes sense, I’ll certainly try to do that.”
Shero didn’t rule out the idea of trading someone who is under contract beyond this season for a rental.
“Maybe, depending on the player and depending on the pending free agent,” Shero said. “If you’re doing that then you’re trading from an area of depth, hopefully, in the organization and not leaving yourself (asking), ‘What did we do that for?’ for a short-term fix. A short-term fix is sometimes not going to work. And what is the short-term fix, to get you in the playoffs? Maybe this group can do it. I’m not sure. So, that’s a situation you never say never to. I’m not saying I wouldn’t ever trade for a guy who might be a free agent July 1. It’s just the asset cost is really the bigger question.”
Shero on trading any of his pending unrestricted free agents.
“So, we’ll see where we are at that particular time, but at this point I’m not actively looking to trade unrestricted free agents or guys who are going to be free agents. Those aren’t the calls I’m making.”
That doesn’t mean teams won’t be calling and asking about pending UFAs like Lee Stempniak and David Schlemko. Someone could make an offer too good to turn down.
NHL.com: Devils GM Ray Shero on SiriusXM Radio.
“If there’s hockey deals to be made that’s great, or a lateral move that makes sense for us would be fine, but in terms of any big splashes or anything like that, we’re going to have to bide our time a little bit,” Shero said. “Again, I respect what this team has done so far.”