The Pittsburgh Penguins signed restricted free agent Conor Sheary to a three-year, $9MM contract, tweets Elliotte Friedman. The deal will be at a $3MM AAV deal. Sheary played a major role for the Stanley Cup champions last year as he broke out in his second year with the team. After scoring just seven goals in 51 games during his rookie campaign, Sheary took that next step this year, scoring 23 goals and adding 30 assists for a 53 point season. He added two goals and seven points in the playoffs as well. Sheary’s 43-point increase from the previous year is fourth behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (52), Nashville’s Viktor Arvidsson (45) and Boston’s David Pastrnak (44), tweets the Tennessean’s Adam Vingan.
The signing is at a team-friendly price and the 25-year-old forward is now the last restricted free agent the team had to sign. However, after the Sheary signing, the Penguins will have only $3.28MM in cap space to add more center depth to the team. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey suggests that may used to sign veteran Matt Cullen for next year.