January 30, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s special for me to score no matter who the team is,\u201d Shea said Feb. 2 in Cranberry. \u201cI know I\u2019ve had two good games against that team. It\u2019s not really me showing them, but it\u2019s always nice showing them that I\u2019m still at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his third campaign at the NHL level, Shea largely has operated at a strong level this season, at least compared to the first two seasons.<\/p>\n
A presence in the lineup for all 56 games this season, Shea has set career highs with goals (three), assists (19) and points (22) with 26 games remaining on the regular-season schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the points were a part of my goals (entering the season) because that\u2019s not my main focus at all,\u201d Shea said. \u201cBut it\u2019s nice to chip in offensively this year, way more than I have the last two years. If my defensive games stays the way it is and I chip in offensively, I can be a pretty dangerous player in this league. It took me a while to figure out my role and where I belong. After a couple of up-and-down years, this year just feels like we have the right team, the right coaches that put a lot of trust in me. It feels good, and I just want to bring my best game forward to show them I belong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shea largely belonged in a reserve role during his first two seasons with the Penguins. Operating as a seventh defenseman, the left-hander skated on both sides of the blue line, primarily on the third pairing whenever injuries or other absences created openings.<\/p>\n
As such, he had modest totals, generating only six points (three goals, three assists) in 70 games in his first two seasons.<\/p>\n
With regard to the ongoing season, things are clearly different.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has always played really good for us, but you can definitely see that this year he\u2019s taken another step in just the way he breaks the puck out of our own end and defending and how confident he is with the puck in the offensive zone, making plays and taking guys on,\u201d Penguins forward Rickard Rakell said. \u201cHe\u2019s really added to our team, and he\u2019s a big part of our success.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the team entered its Olympic break, veteran right-handed defenseman Kris Letang was sidelined with a fractured left foot. That led to Shea replacing Letang on the right side of the second pairing as well as on the point of the second power-play unit in the team\u2019s final four games entering the break.<\/p>\n
Last month, Shea got to man the point on the top power-play unit when Letang and Karlsson were absent because of undisclosed ailments during a 4-1 road win against the Calgary Flames on Jan. 21. At least for the lone power-play opportunity the Penguins were afforded in that contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot that first rep at Calgary,\u201d Shea said. \u201cI was kind of hoping that we\u2019d get more than one rep just so I could get maybe a feeling filling in for (Karlsson). It\u2019s honestly just next man up. (Letang) goes down. It\u2019s a huge loss. We\u2019ve got guys coming into the lineup, we\u2019ve got guys coming into the lineup (and) we\u2019ve got guys going into new positions that need to carry that load. I haven\u2019t played power play in a while. It was good to be out there and get a couple of extra touches. It helps my five-on-five game because you\u2019re touching the puck in the (offensive) zone a lot more.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor (the second) unit, we\u2019ve just got to get to the net and get shots through. That\u2019s the main thing why I\u2019m (on the point) is to get shots through and to the net and just let (forward Justin Brazeau) and those guys do the work down low.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shea certainly has put in the work to get this far.<\/p>\n
A fourth-round draft pick (No. 121 overall) in 2015, he had an amicable disagreement with the Blackhawks over his development arc and opted to stay four seasons at the NCAA level with Northeastern. When his NHL rights expired with the Blackhawks, he signed with the Dallas Stars but never played above the American Hockey League level with that club.<\/p>\n
By the 2023 offseason, Kyle Dubas took over the Penguins as president of hockey operations and splurged on several high-profile signings, such as defenseman Ryan Graves and forward Lars Eller, on July 1.<\/p>\n
One day later, the Penguins quietly signed Shea \u2014 then a 26-year-old who had no NHL experience \u2014 to a one-year contract for a league minimum of $775,000.<\/p>\n
Since then, Shea has signed two additional one-year contracts with the team, the most recent happening less than a year ago (March 7). That deal came with a tidy pay raise of $900,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cPittsburgh\u2019s been the one spot that\u2019s given me opportunity and kind of let me grow in my position,\u201d Shea said. \u201cLet me build on my game day-in and day-out. This is the spot that I want to be, and this is the spot that allowed me to play to myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fair to wonder how much longer this will be Shea\u2019s spot. He is having a career year, and he is again a pending unrestricted free agent this offseason.<\/p>\n
This might be his greatest \u2014 if only \u2014 chance to command a lucrative and long-term contract, particularly with the NHL\u2019s salary cap expected to grow substantially in the near future.<\/p>\n
He professes he hasn\u2019t devoted much thought to that business. He\u2019s too busy just playing hockey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how my head works,\u201d Shea said. \u201cI know if I start thinking about that \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t say affect my game \u2014 but I don\u2019t want that on my mind. Last year, when I signed an extension, that wasn\u2019t really a thought. Then (the extension) kind of came out of nowhere. Then, after it was done, I played some good hockey after that. I try not to think about those things. Obviously, everyone knows the situation when you\u2019re a (pending unrestricted free agent). I try to stay out of that and leave that to my agent and let my agent do all of that work and just focus on playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I do that, I\u2019m putting some pretty good hockey on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t