Conor Sheary 2022 Report Card

We’ve reached the back end of our Washington Capitals report cards. Next up is Conor Sheary. In 71 games he had 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points. His 19 goals was just four shy of a career high 23 that he set in 2016-17 as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the playoffs he had just one assist in six games.

For the second consecutive season Sheary was fourth on the team in goals. He, along with Alex Ovechkin, were among the teams top five in scoring for two straight seasons. He stepped up his game last season and even got some top line minutes alongside Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Only Tom Wilson spent more time on the top line last season.

That is a result of the coaches putting more trust in Sheary. He topped 15 minutes in ice time for the first time since that breakout second season. He averaged 15:17 minutes of ice time. Ha also ranked among the NHL’s top 20 in fewest giveaways per 60 minutes with just .66, barley turning the puck over. He also drew more penalties than he took with a net penalties per 60 rate of .50.

The only down side with Sheary is he was over depended on the top line. As a result that top line was outshot and outscored on a regular basis. He also disappeared in the playoffs for the second consecutive season and has a combined one playoff goal in the last two postseasons.

He now heads into the second and final season of his two year contract extension. After a solid season last year he could easily top 20 goals this upcoming season. He also had good advanced stats in the regular season with a 50 percent Corsi For percentage, a 49.27 percent Expected Goals For percentage, and a 49.40 percent High Danger Chances For percentage, per Natural Stat Trick.

Grade B: Conor Sheary had another solid season and perhaps even one of his best seasons in a long time. He would’ve gotten a B+ if he stepped it up in the postseason but finishing out with a B is still pretty good.