Conor Sheary will return to the Washington Capitals for the 2021-22 season. Sheary signed just a one year deal with Washington back in December of 2020, but thanks to his play during the pandemic shortened 2021 season he earned himself a two year extension late that season.
That play included him scoring 22 points in 53 games. While not the most impressive numbers, 14 of those 22 points were goals. Scoring goals at that pace means that if Sheary had played in the 79 games he could have played in if it was a full season he could/would have scored 20 goals. That would have been just the second time in his career he would have hit the twenty goal mark. The first and only time being in his first full season in 2016-17 where he scored 23 goals in 61 games played.
Going into this new season Sheary should be a permanent member of the Capitals third line. He can surely step into the top six to fill in for injured players. However, if the Caps are at full strength it’s hard to imagine the 29-year-old winger being a top six player. That being said, having someone who can potentially get 20+ goals on your third line is an incredible luxury.
Playing on the third line will mostly mean playing with center Lars Eller, and that will be a good thing for Sheary. Take a look at some of the numbers that Sheary posted while playing with and playing without Eller.
Sheary w/ Eller
CF% – 56.29%
SCF% – 58.45%
HDCF% – 61.18%
xGF% – 61.28%
Sheary w/o Eller
CF% – 51.90%
SCF% – 51.08%
HDCF% – 51.75%
xGF% – 51.39%
As you can see, Sheary without Eller put up some impressive numbers, but when he played with Eller those same numbers were terrific.
Individually, he was also able to put up some impressive numbers. He was consistently among the top Capitals in the advanced stats categories. Here are his advanced numbers and where he ranked on the team.
CF% – 53.77% – 5th
SCF% – 54.23% – 7th
HDCF% – 55.78% – 8th
xGF% – 55.71 – 5th
Again, having a guy like Sheary on your third line is something most teams are probably very jealous of. If you are a Washington Capitals fan you will probably take a repeat season from him.
He might not be able to repeat his career high shooting percentage from last season. He scored on 15.9% of his shots, the next highest mark in his career was 14.9% which, again, was in 2016-17 with Pittsburgh.
However, a longer season, more shots, more opportunities, a more concrete role and likely being more comfortable on the team, this could be a very good season for Sheary.
Conor Sheary: a man on a mission against his former teams! pic.twitter.com/cmKIiDaMfE
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 19, 2021
To start this season, watch for Sheary to play on a line that is centered by a rookie. Whether that rookie is Connor McMichael or Hendrix Lapierre. Once Nicklas Backstrom is able to play expect to find him back next to Eller and for the Capitals third line to be hard to stop on more nights than not.
What’s the hope for Sheary? I would say 17-23 goals and possibly somewhere in the 35-40 point range.