The Penguins have signed forward Conor Sheary to a three-year contract worth $9 million, general manager Jim Rutherford announced today. The deal will carry an average annual value of $3 million.
The signing heads off an arbitration hearing set for this coming Friday in Toronto. The club also sidestepped a scheduled hearing with Brian Dumoulin, signing the big defenseman to a six-year pact worth $24.6 million on July 24.
Sheary, 25, enjoyed a breakout season in 2016-17. Skating predominantly on a line with superstar Sidney Crosby and fellow whiz-kid Jake Guentzel, the diminutive winger tallied 23 goals, 30 assists and 53 points in just 61 games. The UMass grad paced the Pens’ forwards with a plus-24—third-best on the team—and ranked third in even-strength points (48), one behind Evgeni Malkin.
In addition, Conor’s points/60-minute mark of 3.27 was third-highest on the Pens (behind Malkin and Crosby) and seventh in the league among skaters who played a minimum of 20 games.
According to CapFriendly.com, the Pens have $3.28 million in cap space still available. Factoring in Derrick Pouliot—currently signed to a one-way contract but listed as a member of the Baby Pens—the amount may be closer to $2 million.
The team is shopping for a third-line center to replace Nick Bonino, who signed with Nashville on July 1. Free-agent Matt Cullen—currently weighing his options—may still be in the picture.
In other recent news, the Pens filled three organizational slots last week. Scott Young, a member of the 1990-91 Stanley Cup champions, succeeded Randy Sexton as director of player development. Jarrod Skalde, a former teammate of assistant GM Bill Guerin, becomes player development coach. Brendan Sullivan (no relation to Mike), is the new goaltending development coach.
Streit Joins the Habs
Defenseman Mark Streit signed a one-year deal with Montreal on July 25. Acquired from Tampa Bay on March 1 for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 Entry Draft, the 39-year-old vet tallied 6 points (1+5) in 19 regular-season games with the locals.
He tallied two assists in three playoff games during the recent Cup run.
Hey Rick,
Just looking at the depth chart this morning and comparing to this time last year. No matter how I look at it, the Pens on August 1st,2017 are NOT the same team as the Pens team on August 1,st 2016.
Meaning we have some real HOLES to fill. With less than $ 2.5 million in actual cap space to fill them all !
Yes we have the same number of bodies, but we certainly do not have the same caliber of players as last year.
Daley, Bonino, Kunitz, and maybe Matt Cullen. ( Reports say he is still not sure if he will return or not. You would have a better idea than me for your sources are local.) All 4 are key pieces to a winning team.
Losing Daley and picking up Matt H. is no even trade. Pouliot is no Daley either. That is a minus for the defense..
At center… Crosby, Malkin, Bonino, and Cullen in 2016.
Crosby, Malkin, ??? and Rowney in 2017. Not even close. Real problems !!
Right wing…. With Reece may actually be a little stronger.
But lets not fool ourselves.He is no Chris Kunitz and he will play maybe 10 minutes each game.How many key goals will he get playing on the 4th line?
Left wing has real holes in it now. We have bodies but not the same talent to replace a versatile player like Kunitz. Wilson? Archibald? Not even close..
So my rant on August 1st is we need to make a blockbuster trade in whereby we get a defensive,two center man, who has great face off numbers,and a left winger with size and talent to replace Kunitz and not just some 180# kid that looks good in the AHL or College.
Come playoffs when the real hockey starts they fade away. Just like Sheary !!
Our competition for the Cup in 2018 has gotten stronger in the league and to date, we are weaker. ( Forget about Washington. They are done. )
My fear Rick will be in 2016/17, that Bonino, Kunitz, Cullen and even Daley played in all the dirty areas, the gritty areas of a hockey game, blocking shots, agitating other teams star players,killing penalties,playing physical…
We do not have that same capabilities right now.
We need 2 centers,another left winger and probably a defense man to be able to compete for a three peat.
$ 2.5 million does not go to far….
We need a trade…..
Hey Jim,
I’m certainly not going to disagree that, at least at this stage, we’re not as strong as last season. Maybe “complete” is a better word. As you so aptly noted, we have a glaring hole at third-line center. Left wing could be a problem as well, although I’m hoping Hagelin can bounce back to his more traditional form. (I didn’t realize he suffered a fractured fibula in March that never really healed.)
However, I don’t think we need to shift into crisis mode and start breaking the team apart. As I’d mentioned in an earlier post, none of our chief division rivals—Washington, Columbus or the Rangers—appreciably improved. In fact, they have as many holes, if not more, than the Pens.
On the other hand, Tampa Bay and Toronto did help themselves and look like teams on the rise. Still, I’m not ready to start pulling desperation deals in order to keep pace. Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I’m confident that Rutherford will sort things out when the time comes.
I’m not promising they’re going to be the answer, but the Pens are high on Adam Johnson and Zach Aston-Reese. Both can play center. Maybe one (or both) step up to fill the void. If not? Again, I’m sure JR will work something out.
I respectfully disagree with your assessment of Daley and Hunwick. While I loved his mobility and puck smarts, by all accounts Daley had issues in the d-zone last season—and has throughout his career. Hunwick won’t match Trevor offensively, but he skates just about as well and is more solid in his own end. I rate it a wash at worst, and perhaps even a slim upgrade.
That’s my two cents, for what it’s worth… 🙂
Rick
Hey Rick,
Well said…
I might be a little hard on Daley by saying he was better than Hunwick..The proper term may be they play a different style of game.
Most of us were concerned about the Pen’s d corps at the start of the play offs and we were surprised at their play.
I forgot to mention Ron Hansey.Toronto media and their local fans I might add, are glowing over the fact that Ron Hansey is an upgrade over Hunwick. Praising him for his leadership and sound two way play. Maybe that has colored my perspective a bit.
But I still believe the d corps has weakened, even a bit.
With regards to Cullen, I thought it was a done deal when media reports from his native Minnesota said twice he turned them down to play for them next season. It never occurred that he may just retire??
As great as Crosby and Geno are, they can not play the physical, dirty style that is required of a 3rd line center. It is awe inspiring to see Crosby blocking shots in the game 7 of a conference final but I would strongly recommend against that in the 82 game regular season.
One puck the wrong way and there goes your chances to 3 peat. Especially with his history of concussions. You do not want Crosby taking to many hits to the head.
That is a personal concern of mine as mentioned last year.
Plus we have not replaced Kunitz. Hagelin, Guentzel and the kids do not have his ability to play in the rough areas as well as he did.
So I still believe that there will be a trade to secure a 3rd line center with skill and grit to fill the hole at center.
Latest comments from local Toronto media today says Bozak is NOT going to Pittsburgh. Time will tell.
FYI .. Media report from Toronto says Bozak’s down town condo is now up for sale. ???
Great discussion as usual…Thanks
Hey Jim,
I do agree that Kunitz is a loss and if Cullen retires or moves on to another team, that would be a loss, but I have to disagree over Bonino and Daley. Bonino and Daley were already gone last season. Neither were a real asset during the regular season, I will go into more detail in my next article when I get the chance to write it, but I think that even Pouliot would be trading up from what Daley brought to the team last year and the only part of Bonino’s game the team may miss is his Face Offs.
I am coming to the opinion that I may give Aston – Reese first shot, if I were coach, at the third line center, given the asking price teams have for possible trades. He may not block as many shots or win as many faceoffs as Bonino did, but I am not thinking the overall difference in wins will be worth speaking about. As for Daley, much of what I dug out in statistics seems to be in agreement with Phil’s eye test over Daley; he was the millstone dragging the D down.
Hope your right Coach about Daley.
We need to be strong on the back end.
With Bonino and Cullen they did a lot of the dirty work for us that often did not show up on the score sheet.
Plus we both know what really happened with Bones play this season. When JR failed to sign him last year to an extension,( as you said last summer,) Bones knew then his days in Pittsburgh were numbered.
He played just hard enough to win but not 100 % every night like he did the year before and the now famous HBK line.
Can you blame him? Last year the Pens failed to commit to him and when JR said go test the Free agency waters then come back to us….
That was crazy…Now we will pay the price !!
Last year we could have had Bones signed for 4 years at about $ 3.0 to $ 3.4 million. Just like Sheary. If I had a choice I would much rather have Bones than an undersized winger who can not play in the rough stuff come play off time. How about you ?
Hey Jim,
I agree the Bonino of 2 playoff years ago would have been a steal at $3mil/yr but last year, even though he produced 18 Gs, his play was far below the previous year. This may have been due to the Pens not giving him that extension last year. I argued last summer that they should have, but JR chose not to.
And I also agree about really not wanting to trust in Sheary. I would think that this is the best time to try and deal him. He is signed for 3 years and on paper, he scored more than 20 goals and 50 points in 61 games, and is still young, so he could fetch a fair return, since $3mil would seem a small price to pay for 20gs and 50pts. There could be several teams willing to risk that those numbers weren’t due to Crosby.
However, at this point, I would not be willing to trade away any more of the draft picks that all of these other teams are looking to steal from us.
👍👍
Trade Hagelin to buffalo for girgensons and that will free up some cap space and put him on 4th line center and then give Toronto picks and a prospect for Bozak! Toronto needs to shed a player that’s what I understand, they have too many forwards and not enough roster spots so that’s why I don’t think they’ll be interested in Hagelin! 👈And that’s why I’m not a GM LOL
Hey Rick,
FYI,
I just printed off the Cap friendly report 20 minutes ago.
I added up the numbers 3 times because the numbers were out $ 50,000.
13 Forwards were $ 41,266,667, the 7 defense men were $ 25,933,333, and the 2 goalies were $ 4,450,000. That totaled $ 71,670,000 not the $ 71,720,000 reported by Cap friendly. A $ 50,000 difference. Towards the bottom of the report you see a $ 50,000 carry over bonus that has to apply against our Cap this year. Thus the difference.
Everyone’s numbers are included in that current salary projection of
$ 71,720,000 leaving us with $ 3,280,000 million to sign Cullen, a third center and have 1 million in Cap reserve to operate with during the regular season.
Remember 2-3 years a go, we could not dress 6 d-men in the final week of the season due to injuries and had no Cap space for replacements. Nobody wants a repeat of that. That leaves you about $ 1,280,000 to sign a 3rd line center with talent.
Unless you send some of your extra players to the AHL to free up Cap space, like Ruhwedel,Archibald,Wilson Rowney, and that would free up about $ 2,562,500 plus the $ 1,280,000 left over from above, you would have about
$ 3,8425,000 to sign the 3 line center.
Otherwise you need to make a big trade including a Sheary or a Hagelin or one of our defense men and a few others mentioned above.
I do not think $ 1,280,000 is going to land us a replacement for Bonino..
What do you think Rick ?
Hey Jim,
Archibald is on a one-way contract now, so doesn’t that mean he would have to clear waivers to be sent down?
Also, I am now wondering if the Pens will try and trade for a third-line center right now. Prices are completely inflated right now. But then again, now that Sheary is signed, the Pens have a better handle on their numbers and now can try and work numbers out, who they would have to move to make a trade financially viable.
Hey Coach
You are right that not all of these players will be able to clear waivers. I will check later.
But it proves my point that if we want to acquire a 3 to 4+ million dollar center we will need to move a big player to make it happen.
I wonder who?
Hey Jim,
Thanks for helping me clear up a mystery … 🙂
I come up with $72,470,000 versus CapFriendly’s $71,720,000. I had erroneously attributed the difference to a portion of Guentzel and Rowney’s contracts. Not the case.
I do, however, include Derrick Pouliot–who’s on a one-way contract–in my figures. CapFriendly doesn’t, instead listing him under Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Not sure why.
At any rate, Pouliot’s $800,000, less the $50,000 carryover bonus you cited, equals my $750,000 discrepancy.
Rick
Hi Rick
Yes ur right about Pouliot and his 800 k. Cap Friendly has his salary in black and all other minor league players are in green. I assumed he did not have to clear waivers so they were keeping him off the main roster.
If he is indeed a one way contract and has to start in the NHL then my son …we have a problem.
The only way we get a center is via a trade.