Ray Shero served as the general manager of the Penguins from 2006-14, leaving a lasting impact on the franchise well beyond his tenure. Under his leadership, the Penguins became a powerhouse in the late 2000s, highlighted by their 2009 Stanley Cup Championship.

Shero’s first team in 2006-07 enjoyed a 47-point improvement from the previous year in the NHL standings – one of the best single-season turnarounds in league history. Pittsburgh’s surprise playoff berth that spring began a stretch of 17-straight playoff runs, which at its height was the longest streak in the four major North American pro sports leagues. The Pens qualified for the playoffs in all eight of Shero’s seasons.

In 2009, one year after losing to Detroit in the Cup Final, Shero made the bold late-season call to replace highly-successful head coach Michel Therrien with Dan Bylsma, a move that began an 18-3-4 rise from 10th place in the Eastern Conference to 4th, and eventually the Cup.

Shero played a key role in assembling a talented roster around the franchise duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, making bold trades and free agent signings to strengthen the team. During various playoff pushes, Shero acquired impact forwards Bill Guerin, Marian Hossa, James Neal, Jarome Iginla and Chris Kunitz, among others. Some of his best work came in 2012-13, when Shero’s deadline acquisitions included Iginla, Brenden Morrow, Doug Murray and Jussi Jokinen. That club advanced to the third Eastern Conference Final of Shero’s tenure, and earned Shero the NHL General Manager of the Year Award.

During his tenure, Shero guided the Penguins to 373 regular-season wins, the second most by any general manager in franchise history. No general manager in Penguins history has posted a higher points percentage than his impressive .645 mark. Over the course of his tenure, the Penguins owned the most regular-season wins and second-most playoff victories of any NHL team. The Penguins averaged the most goals per game in both the regular season and playoffs. Pittsburgh’s three division titles won under Shero’s guidance place him second in team history behind Craig Patrick’s five.

His impact on the organization remains significant, as many of his moves laid the foundation for the team’s later success. He was also at the helm when Pittsburgh drafted the likes of Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel, Olli Maatta and Matt Murray, all of whom made significant contributions to the Penguins’ back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and ’17.