According to Elliotte Friedman, the Washington Capitals have signed free agent forward Conor Sheary. It is a one year deal worth $735,000.
Hearing WASH closing in on signing two-time Stanley Cup champion Conor Sheary
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 22, 2020
Conor Sheary Signs with Washington Capitals
Over his five year career, Sheary has played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. The Winchester, Massachusetts native has put up 72 goals and 78 assists for 150 points in 325 career games. Sheary was originally undrafted and joined the Penguins organization on a minor league deal with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League in 2014.
Last season Sheary scored 10 goals and had 13 assists for 23 points in 63 games played, split between the Sabres and Penguins. Sheary played 55 games with the Sabres before being dealt back to Pittsburgh on February 24 for Dominik Kahun. Sheary also added 10 minutes in penalties last season. His possession numbers were 53.9 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of -0.7.
Looking to the Future
Sheary is a fantastic depth forward who exploded during the Penguins’ Stanley Cup victories during the 2015–16 and 2016-17 seasons. Usually, on the third line alongside Patric Hornqvist and Sam Lafferty, Sheary has come into his own on the Penguins. Accepting that he isn’t a pure goal scorer, Sheary uses his offensive talents to set his teammates up for success. His high Corsi rating shows how much he helped the Penguins control the puck on the ice.
Sheary is not the most skilled forward in the league, but he works hard and is a great compliment to any star player in the league. He struggled in Buffalo because he cannot be the top forward on a team — he is not yet good enough. However, he thrived on Pittsburgh, playing behind superstar forwards like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. With his most expensive past contract sitting at a reasonable $3 million AAV, Sheary is a relatively cheap and key piece for the Capitals to make a deep run in the playoffs.
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