New New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero will likely call upon many of his experiences in Pittsburgh to help guide his hand whenever important or difficult decisions need to be made in his new NHL home.
If the latest report is accurate, the recently anointed Devil may have already begun doing just that.
According to a report from Dave Molinari of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette exploring Penguins GM Jim Rutherford's pursuit of a first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, Shero and the Devils might be among a small handful of teams to have already spoken to former Pittsburgh bench boss Dan Bylsma about their head coaching vacancy.
"Rutherford has given Buffalo and San Jose permission to discuss coaching positions with Bylsma - New Jersey GM Ray Shero also is believed to have gotten clearance to talk to Bylsma and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach John Hynes about the Devils coaching job, although Rutherford would not confirm that - and Rutherford has not ruled out seeking compensation if another team hires him," Molinari writes.
Bylsma remains under contract with the Penguins which, as Rutherford notes, is something of a catch-22 for the Pens.
"We haven't gotten to that point," Rutherford said, via Molinari. "That [right to seek compensation] rule kind of works against itself. On one hand, you're paying an employee who's not working, so teams prefer to get their salaries moved on [to another club]. But at the same time, we have a rule that, in some cases, there could be compensation."
Getting rid of Bylsma's contract would likely be appealing for a Pittsburgh team that now has Mike Johnston in place, but adding a first-round pick may take precedent in such a scenario - if, that is, the Devils and Shero proved willing to part with such value.
Considering the Penguins did not seek compensation when Shero made the leap to the Devils to replace the aging Lou Lamoriello, it's quite possible they'll do the same should Shero tab Bylsma as his "guy."
"We don't want to jeopardize what [Shero and Bylsma] could do going forward," Rutherford said. "We'll just wait to see who Dan possibly could get hired by, and make [a decision on compensation] at the time."
