Penguins' Ryan Shea enjoys offensive production surge, more prominent on-ice role

A handful of descriptive phrases quickly come to mind to describe Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea.

“Uncomplaining,” “reliable” and “depth defenseman” would be particularly appropriate.

“Goal-scoring threat” or “point-producing machine,” not quite.

However, Shea, suiting up for his 54th career NHL contest Feb. 23 against the New York Rangers, scored a pair of goals to record his first multi-point game.

Two quick back-to-back goals for Ryan Shea! ???????? pic.twitter.com/5GPWQoYFIG

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 23, 2025

Then, in Sunday’s 6-5 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Shea recorded an assist.

Shea initially finished with a pair of helpers, but after the game, the NHL amended Rickard Rickell’s third-period goal to feature a secondary assist from Kris Letang instead.

“It’s definitely good to see,” Shea said regarding his current offensive production. “Honestly, that’s not my main focus. My main focus is to keep the puck out of our own net, but when you get rewarded like that, I don’t really score that many goals, so it’s nice to see. That just builds on your confidence, too, and your ability to get up in the play and work the offensive zone.”

Last season, Shea made his NHL debut with the Penguins and went on to skate in 31 games, recording a lone goal.

Sunday marked Shea’s 27th game of 2024-25, with his point total increasing to two goals and three assists while averaging 16 minutes, 18 seconds of nightly ice time.

Shea’s pre-Penguins career was spent entirely in the American Hockey League, where he made 163 appearances over parts of three seasons, primarily with the Texas Stars (Dallas’ affiliate).

While navigating the AHL, Shea displayed modest offensive chops, which coach Mike Sullivan took note of in assessing the 28-year-old’s strengths.

Now, on the heels of an individual offensive surge, Shea is beginning to demonstrate some of what Sullivan referenced.

“I think Ryan does a lot of really good, subtle things with the puck,” Sullivan said of Shea during preseason camp in October. “He has real good poise, he doesn’t just throw pucks away, he has good vision and he has the ability to make outward passes tape to tape.

“The subtleties of his game with the puck is what impresses me the most about Ryan. He defends really well with his stick, but he sees it pretty good when he has the puck. He makes a lot of real nice subtle plays that help us get out of our end or help us keep possession. I think that, without question, is probably his biggest asset.”

In Year 2 with the Penguins, playing time has fluctuated for Shea, who has navigated stretches of being a healthy scratch.

But in contrast to last season, when he was frequently shuttling between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Shea has remained at the NHL level for the entirety of 2024-25, awaiting the call to enter the lineup.

Of late, Sullivan has seen fit to increase Shea’s role.

Primarily inserted on the third defensive pairing, Shea, on Feb. 27, was promoted to the club’s top pairing alongside Letang, leading to a career-high 21:47 of ice time.

Shea reverted to the third pairing opposite Vincent Desharnais on Saturday vs. the Boston Bruins, but after P.O Joseph left that contest with an injury and was unavailable Sunday, Shea was put back on the top pairing with Letang, where he saw a new career-high in minutes (23:58).

“We just felt, quite frankly, it was based on performance,” Sullivan said. “We thought Ryan Shea was playing well lately, and so we’re putting guys in the lineup just based on performance. That’s part of it. We felt like Ryan has played very well as of late and was deserving of being in the top four.”

Against the Maple Leafs on Sunday, Shea was a few inches away from notching goal No. 3 on the year as opposed to assist No. 3.

About midway through the first period, with the Penguins down 2-0, Cody Glass won a puck battle along the boards on the forecheck, getting the puck to Blake Lizotte, who accelerated with it behind the cage.

Flipping a backhanded pass to the left faceoff circle, he found Shea, who ripped a slap shot past Toronto netminder Joseph Woll.

However, soon after Shea was congratulated by teammates on the bench, the goal was attributed to Glass on a deflection.

Ryan Shea blasts home the one-timer, trimming Pittsburgh's deficit to 1!#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/q5Wd5NKfND

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 2, 2025

“I had my head down. I would say I got all of (the puck). It felt good and it went in,” Shea said of the sequence. “I honestly didn’t even see where everyone else was because I was just so focused on hammering that thing. I’m going to have to watch it, whether it tips Glass or not. But it doesn’t really matter. It’s a big momentum swing for us at that point.”

Shea hopes he can play some individual role in helping the Penguins stabilize down the stretch while continuing to maintain a belief in his own game.

“Obviously, we’re going through our ups and downs like every team does, but it’s been good,” Shea said. “A lot of playing hockey is, you’ve got to be confident in yourself. That’s when your true game comes out. If I keep doing that, good things will happen.”

Notes: The Penguins reassigned goaltender Joel Blomqvist to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on Monday. The 23-year-old most recently allowed six goals on 33 shots in a 6-5 overtime home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. On the year at the NHL level, Blomqvist is 4-9-1 with a 3.81 goals-against average and .885% save percentage through 15 games. … Replacing Blomqvist on the NHL roster is Tristan Jarry, who was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in a corresponding transaction. Jarry, who has bounced between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season as a result of inconsistent play, owns a 6-5-1 record, 2.67 GAA and .908% save percentage over 12 AHL contests. He most recently appeared with the NHL Penguins on Jan. 14, a loss vs. the Seattle Kraken. The next day, Jarry, in Year 2 of a five-year, $5.375 million contract, was placed on waivers before clearing and being assigned to the AHL. … The Penguins also signed 2024 seventh-round (No. 223 overall) draft pick Finn Harding, a 20-year-old defenseman playing with the Brampton Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), to a three-year entry-league deal. Harding, 20, has 55 points (seven goals, 48 assists) through 59 games played with the Steelheads.