Home / News / Capitals sign Conor Sheary to one-year deal worth $735,000

Capitals sign Conor Sheary to one-year deal worth $735,000

By Ian Oland

 3 Comments

December 22, 2020 4:28 pm

The Washington Capitals have signed depth forward Conor Sheary to a one-year deal worth $735,000.

Sheary has spent the majority of his five-year playing career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He won two Stanley Cups there in 2016 and 2017.

Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the news.

In Washington, the left-handed shooting winger could end up playing on the third or fourth line possibly taking a roster spot originally slated for Daniel Sprong.

The Capitals likely found the money to sign Sheary after Henrik Lundqvist announced he would miss the 2020-21 season due to a heart condition ($1.5 million cap hit). Sheary is coming off a three-year deal where he made $3 million per season.

Sheary liked Carl Hagelin’s Capitals-related tweets on Twitter lately, suggesting the deal has been in the works for a few days.

Through hard work and dedication, the undrafted free agent has turned himself into a bonafide role player despite his meager size: 5’8″, 179 pounds. Sheary even came up clutch offensively during the Penguins’ back-to-back championships, scoring in overtime of Game Two of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final to help lead the team over the San Jose Sharks.

After winning the two Cups in the Burgh, the Winchester, MA native was dealt along with Matt Hunwick to the Buffalo Sabres for a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. The deal gave Penguins GM Jim Rutherford much-needed salary cap relief ($5 million).

“He was part of our Cup team. He was here for two Stanley Cups. He’s a good player,” Rutherford said in June 2018 after the deal per the NHL.

Sheary played a top-nine role for the Sabres scoring 14 goals and 20 assists in 78 games.

He was later re-acquired by the Penguins at the 2020 Trade Deadline for Dominik Kahun. The Penguins also netted Evan Rodrigues in the deal.

More from the Capitals:

The Washington Capitals have signed forward Conor Sheary to a one-year, $735,000 contract, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

Sheary, 28, recorded 23 points (10g, 13a) in 63 games with the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. The 5’8″, 179-pound forward was tied for sixth among Buffalo forwards with 19 points (9g, 10a) before being traded to Pittsburgh on Feb. 24. In 325 career regular season games with the Penguins and Sabres, Sheary has 150 points (72g, 78a).

A two-time Stanley Cup champion with Pittsburgh (2016 and 2017), Sheary has recorded 21 points (6g, 15a) in 61 playoff games. Since making his playoff debut in 2016, Sheary’s 61 playoff games are tied for 21st in the NHL among forwards. During Pittsburgh’s 2016 Stanley Cup Final against the San Jose Sharks, Sheary scored the overtime goal in Game 2, becoming the first rookie to score an overtime goal in a Stanley Cup Final since Montreal Canadien Brian Skrudland in the 1986 Stanley Cup Final.

Sheary played four seasons at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst from 2010-14, recording 104 points (38g, 66a) in 138 games, finishing his collegiate career seventh in school history in assists and points.

An undrafted free agent, Sheary signed as a free agent with Pittsburgh on July 1, 2015.

Headline photo courtesy of @csheary13

,