According to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, the Edmonton Oilers have signed centreman, @Riley Sheahan, to a one-year contract with a cap hit of $900,000.
Sheahan deal will be one-year at $900K. He’s at the point where he needs to prove he can still help an NHL team. Oilers get a team-friendly deal because of that. https://t.co/RT9gX6eava
— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) September 5, 2019
Ken Holland continued to add to the @Edmonton Oilers’ depth chart today as news broke this afternoon that Riley Sheahan is coming to town on a one-year deal, presumably to battle for the third-line centre spot. With all three of @Connor McDavid, @Leon Draisaitl, and @Ryan Nugent-Hopkins destined for top-six minutes, the vacant third line centre position has been a topic of conversation around these parts for the past few months with varying free agents, including Riley Sheahan, being thrown around as potential fixes for the spot. In Sheahan, the Oilers are picking up a reasonably reliable bottom-six option on a team-friendly deal that will be expected to play sound defensive minutes while also chipping in on offence when possible.
After making the full-time jump to the NHL six seasons ago, the former first-round pick in 2010 (21st overall to Detroit) has averaged between 13:28 and 15:39 minutes per night with a portion of that time (roughly two minutes, depending on the team) coming on the penalty kill. Seeing as the Oilers desperately need help killing penalties, one could probably assume that Sheahan will see his fair share of PK time with the Oilers as he looks to provide some stability when the team is down a man. After nearly making it through the entire 2016-17 season without a goal, Sheahan bounced back with 11 goals in 2017-18 and nine goals in 2018-19, which would certainly be an increase on what the Oilers’ bottom six centremen were able to produce a year ago.
This morning, Jason Gregor wrote about Sheahan as a potential PTO target for the Oilers, obviously unaware that a one-year contract would be coming his way:
Sheahan turns 28 in December. Over the past five seasons, he is 50.7% in the faceoff dot. He had produced 13, 14, 2, 11 and 9 goals and 36, 25, 13, 32 and 19 points. He struggled in 2017 with only 2-11-13, but rebounded with 32 points in 2018.
In 82 games split between the @Florida Panthers and @Pittsburgh Penguins last season, Sheahan registered nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points to go along with 17 PIMs and a 45.2 CF%. Another notable stat is that Sheahan had a 34.1 oZS% in 2018-19 which implies that the guy was basically glued to the defensive zone. Will that happen here in Edmonton? We shall see.
What do you guys think?
SHEAHAN’S PRO CAREER SO FAR
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PGP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011-12 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -2 | — | — | — | — | — |
2011-12 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
2012-13 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 72 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 33 | 5 | 24 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 10 |
2012-13 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
2013-14 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 31 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 12 | -2 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
2013-14 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 42 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2014-15 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 79 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 16 | -3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
2015-16 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 81 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 12 | -8 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
2016-17 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 14 | -29 | — | — | — | — | — |
2017-18 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
2017-18 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 73 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
2018-19 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 49 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 13 | -7 | — | — | — | — | — |
2018-19 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 33 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 | -2 | — | — | — | — | — |
NHL Totals | 447 | 58 | 91 | 149 | 77 | 29 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 |
