The Boston Bruins are reportedly interested in Buffalo Sabres’ winger, Conor Sheary. He could turn out to be this year’s Marcus Johansson.
Very few Boston Bruins fans were all that excited by the signing of Marcus Johansson last trade deadline. Fast forward to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final though and there was plenty of talk about how you renew him and fit everyone else under the salary cap.
Safe to say he won Boston Bruins fans over with his play in the post-season, especially the chemistry he formed with fellow mid-season arrival Charlie Coyle.
There’s no reason that Conor Sheary couldn’t be that signing this season. On a $3 million deal that expires this summer, the Buffalo Sabres might well seek to cash-in while they can.
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He’s not the biggest or flashiest name around, but he’s the sort of addition that might put the team over the edge, especially if Ondrej Kase ends up a good second-line fit.
Arriving with the Boston Bruins, Johansson had 27 points in 48 games with the New Jersey Devils. By no means a poor points total, though clearly he wasn’t always 100% fit and healthy.
His career-best totals had occurred back in the 2016-17 season when had last managed a full season, back with the Washington Capitals. In that campaign, he was good for 24 goals and 58 points in total. Clearly, there was some talent there.
Likewise for Conor Sheary; his most recent couple of seasons haven’t been his best – just 19 points this season for the Buffalo Sabres in 55 games represents a very weak showing. However, there is clearly talent as evidenced by a 23 goals and 53 point year, also in the 2016-17 season when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Conor Sheary is the sort of name that teams might sleep on at the trade deadline and this in turn might allow the Boston Bruins to pull off a similar deal to the Johansson one; a second and fourth-round pick.
Of course, given that his numbers are down on Johansson’s and that he plays a different style of game, maybe less designed for play-off hockey, you could probably adjust that to a third and fifth-round pick if you’re lucky.
Marcus Johansson came to the Boston Bruins with plenty of play-off experience courtesy of his time with the Washington Capitals. Conor Sheary is just the same, courtesy of being with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In fact, perhaps where Sheary outshines Johansson is the fact that he has won the Stanley Cup twice and could bring that experience, even as a younger guy, to the Boston Bruins’ locker-room.
Don’t sleep on Conor Sheary; he has every chance of being traded to the Boston Bruins and while he isn’t fancy or the big name we hope for, he’s got every chance of being a successful addition, likely to the third-line with Anders Bjork and Charlie Coyle, if we were to go for him.