"I think you know what's out there," Stempniak said. "But for us, and especially me, I'm just focused on these next three games. You never know what's going to happen, Things happen and they're out of my control. It's not weighing on my mind very much."
Stempniak, who has played 768 NHL games for eight teams in 11 seasons, was traded by the New York Rangers to the Winnipeg Jets on March 1, 2015 for forward Carl Klingberg.
Devils coach John Hynes has seen Shero's trade deadline work up close when he was coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Pittsburgh Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate, and Shero was GM of the Penguins.
"Ray has so much experience and is a great communicator," Hynes said. "I think he's found times where he and I could have a meeting and go out to dinner to discuss the team and where things are going, and that's a great perspective." For me he's been a great resource and a great help, and it's nice when you're on the same page as far as how you want to do things from the coach and GM, and we have that."
Shero was active prior to the trade deadline with the Penguins, but Hynes didn't seem to mind if the group he has Tuesday remains together past it.
"It's been a high-character group," he said. "And what I mean by that is we don't have guys with issues. We have guys willing to work, practice and they're on time, they want meetings and want to get better. We don't have issues like that in and around our team, which is probably the first step in giving yourself a chance to win games.
"I think they also play hard for each other, they've built a chemistry, and they care for each other and care about the results. When you have that it gives you the best chance to not only have a good season on the ice, but an enjoyable one in and around the rink."
