Welcome to our series on who wore each number best for the Penguins.
The idea is being openly borrowed from our new hockey writer, Cody Tucker, and his project at the Lansing State Journal covering all the uniform numbers worn through Michigan State football history, one that’s been well received by their readers and prompted heavy discussion and debate.
Under the organization of Taylor Haase, and following the voting of a big chunk of our staff, we’ll publish one new one each day until completion, which should be right around the start of training camp.
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Name: Conor Sheary
Number: 43
Position: Left wing
Born: June 8, 1992, in Winchester, Mass.
Seasons with Penguins: 2015-2018
Statistics with Penguins: 184 games, 48 goals, 45 assists in regular season; 57 games, six goals, 15 assists in playoffs.
WHY SHEARY?
Sheary went to UMass-Amherst, not Boston College, BU, Northeastern or some other traditional NCAA powerhouse.
Because of his size or lack of it, the 5-foot-8, 175 pound forward was passed over 210 times in the 2010 Draft.
Yet despite long odds, Sheary has made it.
A strong skater with good offensive instincts, Sheary was a key contributor on two Stanley Cup-winning teams. That alone makes him the winner at No. 43, but it's how he got there that makes his story pretty remarkable.
It started when then-Penguins assistant GM Jason Botterill took a flier on Sheary after his college season ended in the spring of 2014. Sheary turned heads in the following season, his first season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, scoring 20 goals, 45 points in 58 AHL games.
The following season, Sheary was better than a point per game in the AHL, recording seven goals and 29 assists for 36 points in 30 games, to earn the call-up to Pittsburgh.
He made his NHL debut on Dec. 16 vs. Boston -- his hometown team -- in Mike Sullivan's second game as coach. Two nights later, Sheary scored a goal and assist vs. the Bruins and never looked back:
That rookie season, Sheary put up a modest seven goals and three assists for 10 points in 44 regular-season games. However, that team and Sheary were not defined by the regular season. In 23 playoff games, Sheary matched his regular-season total with 10 points, including a goal in Game 1 of the Cup Final and, most unforgettably, the game-winner in overtime of Game 2 to give the Penguins a 2-0 series lead:
Sheary followed that up in 2016-17 by recording career highs in goals (23), assists (30) and points in just 61 games while playing extensively with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, aka "Sid and the Kids."
As he did the previous spring, Sheary scored twice in the Cup Final, finding the back of the net in Games 1 and 5 as the Penguins brought the Cup back to Pittsburgh.
Those performances earned Sheary a three-year, $9 million contract in the summer of 2017. But with it came huge expectation. Expectations that Sheary could never fulfill in his third season. He suffered a 23-point drop-off from the previous year, though he still managed to score 18 goals, albeit inconsistently.
By the postseason, Sheary was skating on a fourth line, managing just two assists in 12 games while seeing just 11:50 of ice time, 2:08 less than he played as a rookie.
On June 27, six weeks after Washington ended Pittsburgh's quest for a threepeat, Sheary and defenseman Matt Hunwick were dealt to Buffalo for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft in what was essentially a salary dump.
WHAT'S HE DOING NOW?
Sheary, 26, is looking for a fresh start in Buffalo where he is reunited with Botterill. Though still young, Sheary will be counted on as a veteran leader on a Sabres team that should be one of the more exciting teams in 2018-19. With top overall pick Rasmus Dahlin and fellow Calder Trophy candidate Casey Mittelstadt, along with 2015 No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel, the Sabres are piecing together a solid core.
IT WAS SPOKEN
“It’s pretty surreal. It’s just an exciting moment. More importantly, we’re up 2-0.” -- Sheary, after scoring the Game 1 overtime winner vs. the Sharks in 2016.
“I wasn’t expecting it. But at the same time, you have to look at the positives. I’m super-excited with the new chapter I have in my life and have to put my Pittsburgh years behind me.” -- Sheary, on being dealt to the Sabres.
HONORABLE MENTION AT NO. 43
Tomas Surovy
Jeff Daniels
ANY DEBATE?
None. Though only five players wore No. 43, there is no question Sheary made the most of it.
Tomorrow: DK has No. 44.
Yesterday: Dylan Reese
