Sheary ready to begin new chapter in Buffalo

Conor Sheary had heard some of the rumors that he might be on the move.
When it came to the Pittsburgh Penguins' salary cap situation, there was talk around the NHL focused on how they'd free up some cap space this offseason. The forward's name had been mentioned as a player who could be traded, but as he put it, "you never know what can happen until it actually does."
On Wednesday, when he was driving home from the gym, he received a call from the Pegnuins to tell him that he was headed to Buffalo.

Sabres general manager Jason Botterill swapped a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft for Sheary and defenseman Matt Hunwick.
"I'm super excited to get started in Buffalo," Sheary said Thursday on a conference call. "At some point, you've got to move on from one team and I kind of grew up in Pittsburgh. But I think Buffalo will be a great opportunity for me to grow as a player and to get a little bit more opportunity and try and play my game a little bit more."
Sheary's relationship with Botterill dates back to Botterill's days with the Penguins, when as the assistant general manager, he was in charge of their AHL affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Coming out of UMass as an undrafted free agent in 2014 (where he served as captain), Sheary signed a contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to kick off his pro career.
"He was a big part of getting me there after college," Sheary said of Botterill. "I'd say we have a pretty good relationship. To have him on board is a huge help in my transition to Buffalo."
Sheary finished his first full professional season with a team-high 45 points (20+25) and another 12 points (5+7) in eight AHL playoff games. That earned him a two-year NHL contract. And last offseason, he re-upped with a three-year deal after potting a career-high 23 goals and 53 points.
During that stretch with Pittsburgh, he won back-to-back Stanley Cups and scored the overtime winner in Game 2 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final.
He's looking to take what he learned and use it to help Buffalo find success.

"The experience I had there will help me tremendously. If I can just bring a little of that experience - the playoff experience - into the locker room and try to change the culture, I think that would be a good thing," he said. "There are a lot of young players and a lot of really good players that are in Buffalo's system right now and if I can just be a leader in a way on the ice and in the locker room, I think that will help the team for sure."
He played on a line with Sidney Crosby and he may have the opportunity to skate alongside Jack Eichel. What's the key to playing with All-Star caliber centers?
"When you're playing with a guy like that, you try to get him the puck as much as you can. I think a big part of my game is creating turnovers and getting chances for my linemates," Sheary said. "Hopefully if we can create some chemistry there, that'd be awesome. Maybe we'll grow something with that."
Sheary's production did dip last season after that 53-point campaign. He had five goals in October, but he admits he struggled, ending the year with 18 goals and 30 points.
"Early on in the year, I felt like I was playing my game. And then I went through a tough - what seemed like a 40-game stretch, where I wasn't doing much and wasn't creating chances," he said.
He feels like he learned from that. He finished the regular season with four goals and two assists over the final 10 games.
"I think I just got away from my game and I lost a little bit of confidence. That's really important in this league, is to play with confidence and to stick your game and not try to do something else. I kind of fell into that trap," he said.
"Towards the end of the year, I finally found myself again. Although I didn't score in playoffs, I felt like I was contributing and helping the team win. Hopefully, I can build on that moving forward and into next year."