The Devils announced Wednesday that executive president and general manager Ray Shero will serve the AHL franchise as governor, while assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald will assume the role of general manager of the minor league team.

The moves come less than a week after Chris Lamoriello resigned from the Devils organization. He had served as Albany’s general manager when his father, Lou, was Devils general manager.

Lou Lamoriello left the Devils recently to become the general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had served as the governor for the AHL team.

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The Devils don’t have a lot of money for the major free agents, but Shero says the team has already made some decisions.

Right wing Steve Bernier, center Scott Gomez, defensemen Mark Fraser and Peter Harrold are not in the team’s plans for next season and their agents have been informed to look elsewhere, Shero said Saturday.

The decision came after the Devils took goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, center Blake Speers, defenseman Colton White and left wing Brett Seney with picks in the second, third, fourth and sixth rounds, respectively.

The Devils made moves for the more immediate future on Friday, drafting center Pavel Zacha with the No. 6 pick overall and acquiring right wing Kyle Palmieri in a trade with Anaheim for two draft picks.

Zacha is the big two-way center who has shown he can score. The question is will the 18-year-old be ready for the NHL next season.

The 24-year-old Palmieri will be in the lineup next season. He had 14 goals in 57 games with the Ducks and he fits Shero’s vision of a more uptempo team.

”He is the right age, he has good NHL experience for a young player,” Shero said in a telephone interview from Sunrise, Fla. after the draft ended. ”He has speed. He has a physical nature to his game and he’s strong.”

While Palmieri will be entering the final year of his contract, the Devils will keep his rights for at least three seasons.

Blackwood was ranked the top North American goaltender by NHL Central Scouting. The 6-foot-4 Canadian posted a 33-14-2 record with Barrie in the Ontario Hockey League, posting two shutouts with a 3.09 goals-against averagea and .906 save percentage.

Speers had 24 goals and 43 assists with Sault Ste. Marie in the OHL last season.

White was Speers’ teammates at Speers at Sault Ste. Marie. The defensive defenseman had six goals, 16 assists and was plus 38 in 67 games.

Seney had 11 goals and 15 assists in his freshman year at Merrimack College in Massachusetts.

Shero wants the Devils to get younger and his play in free agency might be to wait until the initial frenzy ends and then try to sign players who fit the system.

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Ray Shero has replaced Lou Lamoriello as general manager. John Hynes has been hired as the new coach and the team has a chance to get some much-needed help.

Barring a trade, the Devils (32-36-14) will have the sixth pick overall and three in the top 41, the last one coming in the trade that sent Jaromir Jagr to Florida.

Shero admits there will be some butterflies heading into the draft Friday in Sunrise, Florida, but the scouting staff has done its homework and the goal is to take the best available player.

”When you are that high, it’s still the best player,” Shero said in a telephone interview on Thursday. ”You can talk about scoring but a lot of teams are looking for defensemen. They are real assets and it’s a tough position to find players.”

This is a deep draft, even after Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel are taken with the top two picks overall.

After missing the playoffs for the third straight season, the Devils’ need is on offense.

The team’s 181 goals were the NHL’s third fewest. Mike Cammalleri was the only consistent goal threat with 27 goals.

Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner, Pavel Zacha, Mikko Rantanen and Matthew Barzai headline the top forwards available after McDavid and Eichel. The leading defensemen are Noah Hanifin, Ivan Provorov and Zack Werenski.

The strength of the Devils is their goaltending and defense. Cory Schneider has emerged as one of the league’s elite despite playing with a young defense that is improving with Adam Larsson (22), Eric Gelinas (23), Jon Merrill (23) and Damon Severson (20) gaining experience.

Shero said that while some young players are making the jump from the draft to the NHL, they tend to be the exceptions.

Shero will listen to trade offers.

”You are always open to something,” he said. ”Lou moved the ninth pick (2013 to Vancouver for Schneider) and it turned out pretty well for both teams.”

Lamoriello, who remains the Devils’ president, will work the draft with Shero and head scout David Conte.

The Devils drafted center/left wing John Quenneville of Brandon (WHL) with their first-round draft pick last year.

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Bergevin led the Canadiens to the Northeast Division title and a No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in his first season as an NHL general manager. Montreal, 28th last season in the 30-team NHL, was the league’s most improved team before being ousted by No. 7 Ottawa in the postseason’s first round.

Bergevin hired Michel Therrien as head coach and added defenseman Francis Bouillon and forwards Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong to the roster. He also acquired forward Michael Ryder in a midseason trade.

Murray helped guide Anaheim to its best regular-season finish in franchise history. The Ducks won the Pacific Division and earned the No. 2 seed in the West, but they were eliminated by No. 7 Detroit in a Game 7 loss at home on Sunday night.

Shero made key additions to an already-strong Penguins roster throughout the lockout-shortened year that helped propel the Penguins to their first Atlantic Division title since 2008 and the No. 1 seed in the East.

He obtained center Brandon Sutter and goalie Tomas Vokoun in offseason trades and brought in defenseman Douglas Murray and forwards Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Jussi Jokinen before the trade deadline.

The Penguins eliminated the New York Islanders in six games in the first round of the playoffs and will face Ottawa in the Eastern Conference semifinal series that will begin Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

Voting for the award was conducted among the 30 club general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup finals.

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