Riley Sheahan an underwhelming trade target for 3C (Riley Sheahan)

Riley Sheahan

Riley Sheahan an underwhelming trade target for 3C

By Ryan Wilson

Sep 13, 2017 • 8:03 pm

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As we gear up for training camp there are still some roster spots that are open and would more likely than not be best for an outsider to take. The glaring hole in Pittsburgh's lineup remains their third line center.

There hasn't been much to discuss on that issue the past few weeks so any little thing is going to get noticed right now. Detroit center Riley Sheahan was bandied about yesterday by Elliotte Friedman and Jason Mackey

From Elliotte

We’ll do more stuff from the media tour in a little bit, but let’s look at some of the other current storylines. Sounds like Pittsburgh has re-ignited its search for another centre. Not sure about names. Have heard rumblings about Detroit’s Riley Sheahan, but not specific to the Penguins.

From Mackey

The struggling Wings, who are currently projected to be more than $3 million over the salary cap, have been receiving plenty of calls on Sheahan, multiple industry sources confirmed.

It’s believed the Penguins have been one of them, although it’s worth noting that they routinely do their due diligence on available players.

The pros of targeting Riley Sheahan is that he only makes 2.05M and is a pending RFA. He is 25 years old right now. He is coming off of a horrendous season which should keep cost to acquire low. Riley Sheahan only had 2 goals last year on 109 shots. That works itself out to 1.8%. The previous three seasons he shot 15.3%, 10.6%, and 10.9%. His goal totals were 9, 13, and 14.

Playing on Detroit wasn't an easy task last year. They are a team that is heading the wrong way. It is one of the most poorly constructed rosters in the league. A decade after icing two of the best hockey teams to ever play in the NHL they are now icing one of the worst. This will have a negative impact on stats. That is why I wanted to look at how Sheahan did relative to his teammates. He didn't fare so well

Here is how the Red Wings did generating shots when Sheahan was on the ice versus when he was off it

Ice cold in the high-danger area when Sheahan was on the ice. This helps explain the shooting percentage a little bit. I'm sure there was some bad luck, but not as much as I initially thought. If you can't earn ice in the slot at all it's going to be tough to score these days. Sheahan was never there.

Defensively this is what it looked like

There are some differences, but I don't see a big noticeable change like you do on the shot generation heat map.

The team was bad, but relative to the team there isn't anything here that stands out as a positive for Sheahan. Last year was his worst year in the league so let's try and take a look at his three year averages

The WOWY for the goals look horrendous at a first glance. That can be explained by his career on-ice save percentage of .908. His goalies are way below average when he is on the ice. I personally don't view on-ice save percentage as a repeatable skill. I am not going to be critical of Sheahan for that low save percentage.

His even-strength points per 60 comes in pretty low and that isn't only because of the 2016-17 season..

He played 165 minutes on the penalty kill last year, but I wouldn't use that as one of the main variables to look at when figuring out whether this is a good idea or not.

The cost to acquire probably wouldn't be high considering Detroit's cap situation and the fact Sheahan had a really bad season last year. However, this would be on the low end of options for the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions. I think the team should aim higher for their third line center.

However, I could see the Penguins acquiring Sheahan for the early portion of the season and continue trying to find a better third line center. Sheahan in a fourth line center role would recapture the value the Penguins lost with Matt Cullen.

Thanks for reading!

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