In Ray We Trust?

My phone literally just lit up at my desk next to me with an NHL alert; assuming it was a playoff update, I went to open and clear it.  When my eyes saw "New Jersey Devils" I was intrigued; I read the rest of the message announcing that Ray Shero would be taking over as the General Manager (with Lou remaining in his role as President) and to say I was floored was an understatement.

I'm going to keep this short in the interest of getting the news out to our fellow Devils fans, but suffice to say this comes as a shock, and also pretty much out of left field.  There are so many unanswered questions with this move right now; was it pressure from the ownership group?  Did Lou want to hire a successor now and ease back with his own duties?  Did he think that he could no longer be the architect of a successful team and that some newer blood was needed to resurrect our New Jersey Devils?  We may not have any answers right now, but hopefully some of these questions (as well as any others we all may have) will be answered in the coming days.

As per Ray Shero himself, he was not the man that oversaw the drafting of Pittsburgh's foundation (he was hired as GM to start the 2006-07 season) but he can be given some credit for bringing in other pieces that led them to their 2008-09 Stanley Cup Championship, including the acquisition of Bill Guerin at the trade deadline.

Again, just trying to keep this brief right now so that we can break the news; if John or anyone else writes a more detailed version of events, either he or I will delete this.  What are your thoughts on this move?  Will this lead to a more successful Devils franchise?  What of the impact on the draft?  Leave any and all comments below, commiserate in the collective shock, and as always thank you for reading!