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Conor Sheary

Free Agent Focus: Pittsburgh Penguins

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With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  The Penguins have some key decisions to make, but with a plan to keep their cap number down and their overall goals of making changes to keep their team in the playoff picture for the next few years, they may have to let some players go.

Key Restricted Free Agents

G Matt Murray – With the signing of Tristan Jarry on Saturday to a three-year deal, the Penguins are basically making it clear that they have chosen Jarry over Murray in net. While they could conceivably keep both as it is expected that the team will tender a qualifying offer, it still is more likely that Murray will be traded shortly. That’s a far fall for the “goalie of the future” three years back when they allowed Marc-Andre Fleury move on. Many teams are waiting for the huge free-agent goalie market to disseminate in the next week as Murray sounds like a cheaper option, but the 26-year-old’s lack of consistency likely worries plenty of teams. Murray finished the season with a 2.87 GAA and a .899 save percentage in 38 games, although the netminder did fare better in three postseason games as he had a 2.50 GAA and a .914 save percentage in three games.

F Dominik Simon – Hardly a top-six player, but the versatile Simon suddenly looks like he could be a cap casualty as The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that he could make as much as $1.25MM, a high price for a capped-strapped team. The 26-year-old played all over the lineup, but has never managed to post more than 30 points in his career. He tallied seven goals and 22 points last season in 64 games. The forward is also recovering from shoulder surgery in late April, which was expected to keep him out six to seven months.

Other RFAs: F Pontus Aberg, F Anthony Angello, F Graham Knott, F Sam Lafferty, F Sam Miletic, D John Nyberg.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D – Justin Schultz – The blueliner was singled out last month by general manger Jim Rutherford as one of the problems on the Pittsburgh blueline. That likely means that the team will allow Schultz to explore other offers around the league. The team did get an impressive year out of John Marino, suggesting the team can get along without him and $5.5MM cap hit that came with him. It’s highly unlikely he will get anything like that on the market anyway, but Schultz definitely struggled since signing that three-year, $16.5MM contract. Since posting a 51-point season with the Penguins and signing that deal, he has posted just 54 points combined in those three seasons and has dealt with a number of injuries that has affected his overall game.

F Conor Sheary – The Penguins re-acquired Sheary at the trade deadline from Buffalo after trading him there back in 2018. The 28-year-old winger scored 23 goals in his second year with the Penguins back in 2016-17. Those goals, however, have declined every year to 18 to 14 to 10 last season. The team has made it clear it doesn’t want to put Sidney Crosby next to lesser players like Sheary has, meaning if they held onto him, they would more likely move him down to the third line. The question is whether Sheary is affordable enough to bring back to the team.

F Patrick Marleau – The Penguins picked up the legendary winger from the Sharks for their playoff run, but he managed to scored just one goal and two points in eight games before the shutdown and was scoreless in four playoff games. It isn’t likely that the 41-year-old will return to Pittsburgh, although a return to the Sharks for one final season isn’t necessarily out of the question.

Other UFAs: F Riley Barber, F Thomas Di Pauli, F Adam Johnson, F Kevin Roy, F Phil Varone.

Projected Cap Space

Rutherford vowed to change up his roster this offseason in hopes of giving Crosby and Evgeni Malkin every opportunity to win another Stanley Cup before their time in the NHL is up. That will require some major decisions in both free agency and through trades, something that Rutherford is an expert on. The biggest problem remains the salary cap where the team has just $2.6MM in available cap space to make all these moves.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pittsburgh Penguins Pick Up Conor Sheary, Evan Rodrigues

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have picked up a pair of players as the Buffalo Sabres have sent forwards Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues to the Penguins for Dominik Kahun, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Sheary returns to the only other team he’s ever played for. The 27-year-old played for the Penguins for three years, but was traded back in 2018 with Matt Hunwick for a 2019 fourth-round pick. Sheary has 23 goals over a season and a half, including nine goals and 19 points this season through 55 games. The winger should add some much-needed depth for the team, which has been riddled with injuries up until now.

Rodrigues asked the Sabres for a trade back on Dec. 31 due to his lack of playing time, who has appeared in just 38 games for the team and has been a healthy scratch off an on this season. Rodrigues has five goals and nine points this season and should add some more depth, alongside Sheary, for a team that has been riddled with injuries all season.

Kahun arrives in Buffalo with some more potential and may be the best player in the trade. The 24-year-old has nine goals and 27 points this year after arriving in a trade last summer in Chicago where he had 10 goals and 37 points. He originally signed with the Blackhawks out of Germany. He should give the Sabres a helpful third-line option. Kahun will be a restricted free agent this summer.

Trade Candidate: Conor Sheary

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With the trade deadline quickly approaching, we continue to profile players that have a good chance to be dealt by February 24th.

It was only a few years ago that it looked like Conor Sheary could be another homegrown key player in Pittsburgh’s program.  However, salary cap issues necessitated a trade to Buffalo back in the 2018 offseason.  While he hasn’t been able to come close to the 53-point campaign he had back in 2016-17, Sheary could still be an intriguing under the radar acquisition for a team looking to boost their depth on the wing.  Two Stanley Cup titles with the Penguins will only make him more interesting to prospective buyers.

Contract

Sheary is in the final season of a three-year, $9MM contract signed back in 2017 while still with Pittsburgh, paying $3MM in salary each year.  The contract does not contain any form of trade protection and he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in July.

2019-20

This season has not gone well for most of Buffalo’s players and Sheary is no exception.  He has managed to stay healthy for the most part (only missing four games to a minor upper-body issue) but he’s averaging his lowest point per game average over any of his four full NHL seasons.  Secondary scoring has been an issue for the Sabres all season long and he is part of the reason.

Nonetheless, he can still play both wings and isn’t reliant on power play time to pad his stats as only three of his points this season have come with the man advantage.  That follows the trend for his career as even when he was at his best with Pittsburgh, those points were few and far between.  That should appeal to teams that are looking to add to their third line but don’t want to disrupt their power play units.

Season Stats

53 GP, 9 goals, 10 assists, 19 points, -3 rating, 8 PIMS, 86 shots, 12:58 TOI, 49.0 CF%

Potential Suitors

No one is going to be looking at Sheary as one of their top targets as they’ll be setting their sights higher at this stage.  But as the more impact players come off the board (or no-trade clauses come into play), teams will eventually be pivoting to other plans and that is the tier that he fits in.

In the East, the Penguins could be a fit.  GM Jim Rutherford recently indicated his interest in adding another forward for depth and the fact that he knows the system and has played with several of their key players in the past would certainly be beneficial.  They’d need Buffalo to retain part of his deal though.  The Islanders are in need of offensive upgrades throughout their lineup and while Sheary would be a lower-end one, he’d still represent an improvement nonetheless.  The Blue Jackets may be shopping in the lower end of the market this year with an eye on an incremental upgrade and Sheary would fit in that price range.  Losing Oliver Bjorkstrand for the rest of the year creates a vacancy on the wing that they’ll likely want to fill.

Out West, Arizona is still having issues scoring and with what they paid for Taylor Hall and Phil Kessel, they’re missing some of the assets they’d need to go after a top player.  A depth upgrade is likely more up their alley.  Nashville has worked their way from a likely seller to be right in the mix.  However, GM David Poile may still want to shy away from the top of the market given that they’re still on the outside looking in at a playoff spot.  An addition like Sheary could give them a small boost without moving a pick or prospect of too much significance.

Likelihood Of A Trade

This is a situation that will likely run right to the deadline.  Teams that strike out on their top acquisitions could turn to Buffalo late in the day and offer up a mid-to-late round pick to try to salvage the day.  If that’s enough for GM Jason Botterill, there’s a good chance that Sheary will be on the move.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Conor Sheary Out Week-To-Week

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After further evaluation, the Buffalo Sabres have announced that Conor Sheary will actually be out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury. Sheary was listed as day-to-day just yesterday, but it seems he’ll miss more time than originally expected. Even with Sheary out, head coach Ralph Krueger told reporters including Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News that the team will not likely recall a forward from the AHL, at least through the weekend.

Sheary, 27, was off to a hot start with the Sabres this season, scoring two goals and three points through his first three games despite averaging just over 11 minutes of ice time. He’d been playing lower in the lineup than last season, but that may have changed at some point given his early success. The Sabres have a 2-0-1 record on the year so far and look much improved over the squads that have finished at or near the bottom of the NHL standings the last several seasons.

It is a very important season for the undrafted Sheary, as he heads towards unrestricted free agency. If he can get back to the level he showed in Pittsburgh as a young player, scoring 23 goals and 53 points, he’d be in for a substantial raise over his current $3MM cap hit. If he struggles with injury and inconsistency again, it’s not clear what kind of a market there will be for the 27-year old.

Injury Updates: Sheary, Steel, Sorensen, De Haan

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The Sabres could be without winger Conor Sheary for their next game on Wednesday as the team announced (Twitter link) that he is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  The 27-year-old is off to a strong start for Buffalo this season with three points in as many games despite averaging just over 11 minutes a night in playing time.  Center Evan Rodrigues, a healthy scratch for the first three games despite getting a $2MM award in arbitration, is pegged to take Sheary’s spot in the lineup.

Other injury notes from around the league:

  • The Ducks have transferred center Sam Steel to injured reserve, reports Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register. The rookie was banged up near the end of the preseason with what is being called a mid-body injury and while he suited up in their opening game, he wasn’t able to make it all the way through it and has not played since.  The placement can be back-dated to October 4th meaning that he could be activated on Friday if he’s cleared to return.
  • While the Sharks are getting Evander Kane back from suspension tonight, they’ll be without another winger as Marcus Sorensen is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. He suffered the injury partway through San Jose’s game on Saturday.  Pashelka also notes that defensemen Tim Heed (upper body) and Jacob Middleton (upper body), Dalton Prout (upper body), and Radim Simek (knee) all remain unavailable which is certainly testing their depth on the back end in the early going.
  • Chicago defenseman Calvin de Haan appears to be getting closer to making his season debut. Head coach Jeremy Colliton told Chris Kuc of the Blackhawks’ team site (Twitter link) is now close to returning but they will give him a couple of days off to assess how his groin injury heals.  The veteran was acquired in the summer from Carolina but after recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, he sustained this groin issue shortly after returning to practice.

Atlantic Notes: Point, Senators Prospects, Olofsson

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With the Tampa Bay Lightning preparing for another run to challenge for a Stanley Cup, one of the team’s top players remains unsigned in Brayden Point, who continues to sit out with a number of top restricted free agent forwards, including Toronto’s Mitch Marner, Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen, Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk, Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor. Several defensemen, including Boston’s Charlie McAvoy and Columbus’ Zach Werenski.

However, there has been no end in sight for any of these players and there remains no timeline as all of these players are waiting for the first one to sign and set the market, according to Tampa Bay Times’ Diana Nearhos. Most expect that the first domino to fall will be Marner with everyone signing contracts just underneath him. However, that could change if one of the others opts to sign first. Point’s deal will be an interesting one on a team that already has quite a few top-paid players, but Point, who tallied 41 goals and 92 points.

“It’s a unique marketplace,” said agent Gerry Johannson, who counts Point among his clients. “Everyone is waiting for some clarity.”

So far only two key restricted free agents have signed, both in peculiar circumstances. Jacob Trouba forced a trade to the New York Rangers before finally signing, while Carolina matched Montreal’s offer sheet to Sebastian Aho in early July. In the meantime, the wait continues.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres 2020 Offseason, Heinen, Chiarot

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While the Florida Panthers received all the attention before free agency opened on July 1 due to their excessive amount of cap space and they fact that they were attracting several of the top free agents on the market, next year’s offseason will look quite a bit different. In fact, it could be the Buffalo Sabres that could be poised to take a similar role next year before free agency opens and could find themselves the team that could lock up some of the top free agents for the 2020-21 season.

The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required) writes that while a lot can change in a year, Buffalo has only nine key players under contract for the 2020-21 season along with six restricted free agents. The team is expected to be free of a number of contracts, including Zach Bogosian ($5.14MM), Marco Scandella ($4MM), Vladimir Sobotka ($3.5MM), Conor Sheary ($3MM), Jimmy Vesey ($2.28MM), Matt Hunwick ($2.25MM), Scott Wilson ($1.05MM) and Casey Nelson ($812K). Assuming the salary cap rises by approximately $2MM, the Sabres should have about $29.5MM of projected salary cap, and assuming general manager Jason Botterill can properly persuade them, could add a couple of top free agents.

Who could be available, assuming that some of them don’t re-sign with their teams in the next season? Taylor Hall, Nicklas Backstrom, Brayden Schenn, Chris Kreider, Mike Hoffman, Alex Galchenyuk, Torey Krug, Jake Muzzin, Tyson Barrie, Roman Josi, and Braden Holtby.

  • While it’s been assumed for some time that Marcus Johansson would not return to Boston, (he signed with Buffalo earlier today), The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) looked at who might replace the veteran forward this season as the third-line left wing. The problem for Boston is that the team is loaded with a number of right-shot options in Zachary Senyshyn, Karson Kuhlman or Brett Ritchie. However, general manager Don Sweeney suggested it might be best to take the third-line right wing, Danton Heinen, and move him to the left side as he possesses more versatility than the others, which could allow one of the others to move in on the right side. “I think Heinen, depending on what side you play him on,” said Sweeney when asked who could replace Johansson. “Whether it’s Karson or Senyshyn or Brett Ritchie, guys that are right shots, we could play lefty-righty and move Danton over. I think he fits into the same mold of player creative-wise.”
  • The Athletic’s Marc Dumont (subscription required) analyzes the video of the Montreal Canadiens newly signed blueliner Ben Chiarot and looks at where he might fit in their lineup. Chiarot, who told reporters that he has discussed with the coaching staff about playing on the second pairing alongside Jeff Petry. However, Dumont suggests that would be a mistake as Chiarot struggles with retrieving pucks in a timely manner, which would not work well with Petry and suggests that Brett Kulak should continue in that role like he did last season. It might be best to play him on the Canadiens’ third pairing, but that seems a waste considering his $3.5MM price tag.

 

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Buffalo Sabres

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Buffalo Sabres. 

What are the Sabres most thankful for?

Can Sabres’ fans be any more thankful for the fact that the team, the same team that finished last in the standings one season ago, is currently in first place in the entire NHL with 34 points. That may be short lived as several teams just beneath them play before the Sabres go for their 10th straight win on Tuesday, but few could have predicted the success for second-year general manager Jason Botterill and head coach Phil Housley this season.

The Sabres shook up their entire roster from a year ago and made critical additions at every level, which included adding Jeff Skinner to their top line on offense, adding a number of solid players to their depth chart including Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, Casey Mittelstadt, Conor Sheary and Tage Thompson, while adding 2018 first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin (who has been as good as advertised) on defense. That doesn’t include the team’s success in goal. Those moves have stabilized the team’s defense as they ranked sixth in the league in goals against this year as well as having one of the best penalty killing units in the league as well.

Who are the Sabres most thankful for?

While it would make sense to put Skinner and his 18 goals in this spot, we can save him for later. The tandem that has really impressed this year has been the play of the Sabres goaltenders Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark. The team, which struggled a year ago with Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson has thrived this year. Much of that could be the improvement of the team’s defense, but at the same time both goalies have been better than anyone had expected.

While Hutton was the top goaltender on the market this offseason, most people felt that Hutton was not capable of being a No. 1 goaltender, often comparing him to Carolina’s Scott Darling. However, Hutton has been better than advertised, already netting 11 wins and posting a solid 2.53 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 18 appearances. The untested Ullmark also has looked good, although the team has been careful to not overwhelm the 25-year-old. However in five appearances, he’s also posted a 2.52 GAA and an even more impressive .926 save percentage.

What would the Sabres be even more thankful for?

More production from their youth. The team is very young and is loaded with talent at the AHL level as well. And while players like Dahlin have been impressive, the team could take another step in the right direction if they can develop some of their young core even quicker. Dahlin has played well sharing No. 1 defenseman duties with Rasmus Ristolainen, but he’s capable of even more. The team has gotten just four goals from Mittelstadt and would like to see him develop into a consistent presence in the top six at some point.

Others like Thompson, who has suddenly starting showing off some offense with three goals in his last four games, as well as Evan Rodrigues need to continue to develop as well to allow the team to reach peak efficiency both now and in the future. The team is also loaded with a number of prospects including defensemen Lawrence Pilut and Brendan Guhle, while they have several potential options at forward as well in C.J. Smith, Daniel O’Regan and Alexander Nylander waiting for an opportunity.

What should be on the Sabres’ Holiday Wish List?

The team has made it clear they intend to work on an extension with Skinner next month, but the team really needs to make sure it can lock down the 26-year-old who leads the team in scoring this year and is only six goals away from beating his 24 goals from last season with Carolina. Skinner’s deal will be the main contract the team must deal with this offseason as the team has just three unrestricted free agents (Jason Pominville and Matt Moulson being the others). Skinner’s pairing with Jack Eichel has produced a powerful top line in the NHL and should only get better as the two continue to get comfortable with each other.

With the expiring contracts of Moulson and Pominville, although the team may want to attempt to retain the latter, there should be plenty of money to lock up Skinner now, so they won’t have to worry about him losing him this summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Injury Notes: Coyotes, Blues, Capitals, Sabres

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Although the injuries have not been reported as anything major, fans of the Arizona Coyotes can’t help but feel nervous that two players expected to be major additions to the team’s forward corps this season – trade acquisition Alex Galchenyuk and top prospect Dylan Strome – are currently sidelined with injuries. The Athletic’s Craig Morgan reports that Galchenyuk is currently out with a lower-body injury and has yet to be evaluated and cleared by the medical staff, per head coach Rick Tocchet. Tocchet did not relay when and how the injury occurred and the Coyotes will have to wait for him to be examined to determine the severity and recovery time. Galchenyuk has been a very durable player to this point in his six-year career, but did struggle to return from a knee injury in 2016-17, which ended up costing him 21 games over two stints on the injured reserve. An extended absence to begin his tenure in Arizona would be an unfortunate start for Galchenyuk, who seemed primed to embrace his change of scenery. As for Strome, Morgan writes that he is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. One of the knocks on Strome, the third overall pick in 2015, is that he has struggled to fill out his 6’3″ frame. The lanky forward can be pushed around – and thus susceptible to injury – far too often for a player of his stature. Arizona needs Strome to get healthy and toughen up if he wants to be an impact player this season.

  • The quantity, not quality, of injuries for the St. Louis Blues is starting to become a concern. With starting goaltender Jake Allen still not ready for game action due to back spasms and Nikita Soshnikov out indefinitely with a concussion, the team also has three key forwards on the sidelines with minor injuries. The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford updated the statuses of David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Robby Fabbri today. Fabbri’s injury history is well-documented; the undersized winger has had back luck with his knees, missing the final 30 regular season games and all 11 postseason games of the 2016-17 season, only to tear his ACL last preseason and miss the entire 2017-18 season. While Fabbri’s knees seem to be back at full strength, his current injuries could be related to getting back to a game level of skating. Rutherford states that Fabbri did not practice today due to a sore back and hip flexor. Fortunately, these are conditions that the young forward should be able to bounce back from very soon. Meanwhile, veteran free agent additions Perron and Bozak also missed practice today and were pulled from tonight’s preseason roster with matching groin injuries. The experienced forwards, who added significant depth for St. Louis with their signings this summer, have no previous lower-body injury history and should hopefully be back on the ice soon.
  • The Capitals have just three players who have yet to suit up for a preseason game so far: defenseman John Carlson, center Lars Eller, and winger Devante Smith-Pelly. While Carlson and Eller had documented lower-body injuries and are simply being eased back into game action, NBC Sports Washington’s J.J. Regan points out that Smith-Pelly’s absence has been more curious. In speaking with new head coach Todd Reirden, Regan discovered that Smith-Pelly’s conditioning has been an issue and he has been working toward getting back in game shape. Reirden states that the physical forward is not dealing with any injuries, but simply not yet at a level where he would benefit from playing. A short and celebratory summer likely has Smith-Pelly slightly out of shape and fatigued, but it is not an issue that seems likely to impact the regular season and certainly not a Jake Dotchin-type scenario.
  • Injury-prone Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian is taking it easy this preseason. Beat writer Bill Hoppe says that the veteran blue liner is being eased into camp to ensure that he is fully healthy for the start of the regular season. Bogosian has yet to skate in a preseason game and may not see much exhibition action at all. While Bogosian has a lengthy injury history that features IR stints for knees, ribs, groins, wrists, and more, it was his hip that cost Bogosian all but 18 games last year. He missed the final 39 contests after undergoing hip surgery in January. With the Sabres already fighting the injury bug, it is important that Bogosian be given the time he needs to start the season off on the right foot. Hoppe adds that while Conor Sheary appears ready to re-join the team next week, his former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate, defenseman Matt Hunwick will not. Hunwick will not be ready for the start of the regular season due to a neck injury, making Bogosian’s availability all that more important.

Matt Hunwick Out Indefinitely With Neck Injury

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The Buffalo Sabres released an injury update today, and it wasn’t good news for veteran defenseman Matt Hunwick. The team listed his timetable as “indefinite” while also including Conor Sheary (week-to-week with an upper-body injury) and Sean Malone (six weeks with a knee injury) on the report. John Vogl of The Athletic reports that Zach Bogosian also did not skate with the team for the third consecutive day, though his name does not appear on the Sabres update.

Hunwick and Sheary came over to the Sabres earlier this offseason in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but were ticketed to play much different roles for the club. While Sheary is likely headed for a top-six role and powerplay time this season, Hunwick’s ice time on the blue line was anything but guaranteed. The veteran defenseman played just 42 games for the Penguins last season and never seemed to find his footing after signing a three-year contract in the 2017 offseason.

Now 33, there is reason to believe that Hunwick is nearing the end of his career as a full-time option in the NHL. Though the Sabres needed all the help they could get to rebuild a defense corps that was underwhelming last season, the emergence of first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin and other young options like Brendan Guhle and Lawrence Pilut could push Hunwick to the sidelines. An injury of this nature doesn’t help at all, and only will give an opportunity to other players to cement themselves as roster options for the Sabres this season.

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