This season, Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea has taken a more prominent role on the team’s blueline, playing in the team’s top-four alongside Kris Letang.
“He's been awesome,” Bryan Rust said. “Obviously worked really hard in the summer. Came in here, got ready to go, got ready to take a job. And he's been fantastic. His confidence is obviously through the roof, and he's been playing great for us.”
For Shea, he felt the momentum truly started to build last season. But after earning a contract extension on March 7, Shea broke his finger just two days later.
“I knew that I went out on a high note, and I tried to get back as quickly as possible,” Shea said on the unfortunate timing of the injury. “Came back, finished the year, but it gave me kind of that extra swagger going into the summer that I know I can play in that role. I was fully confident coming into the summer and into the year that I could work my way back up.”
Working out with Dan and Thomas Boothby of DB Performance in Boston, Shea focused his conditioning on areas that would get him ready for training camp and be in a position to put his body through a full 82-game season.
“This past summer, it was more about mainly strength-based, a lot of single-leg workouts,” Shea said. “Overall, I just put in the extra work to get stronger and put on a couple of pounds, which I needed to do.”
Shea still trains with many of the players and coaches he worked with at Northeastern University from 2016 to 2020. Mike McLaughlin was one of many coaches at Northeastern who helped Shea understand what it takes to play at a professional level.
During his final season in college, Shea's leadership role grew as he served as the Huskies' captain. But it was also playing with and learning alongside other NHLers at Northeastern, such as Adam Gaudette, Jordan Harris, and Michael Kesselring, that helped push him to become a pro hockey player.
“Coming in as a freshman, you have those older guys who have been drafted and have been through it,” Shea said. “It's easy to kind of just bounce ideas off of. It was a great mix.”
While Shea was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fourth round (121st overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft, he ended up signing with the Dallas Stars organization as a free agent on Aug. 19, 2020.
The Massachusetts native got his first taste of pro hockey in the AHL with the Texas Stars during the 2020-21 season, which was cut short because of COVID. While the season presented different challenges, Shea learned from that experience and took off in his second season, scoring 32 points (3G-29A) in 66 games.
While he never got the chance to make his NHL debut with the Dallas Stars, those three years in the AHL taught him so many valuable lessons and ultimately made him a better player because of it.
“I think patience is the number one thing in this game, and I just stayed patient and continued to get better every day (in order to) hopefully get the call one day,” Shea said. “Obviously, it didn't happen in Dallas, but I'm grateful for those three years, and I got nothing but love for those guys. Everyone has their own paths. There's no right or wrong one, and I can tell you it was a grind, but it's worth every second.”
Shea joined the Penguins on a one-year contract signed on July 2, 2023. Right from the beginning, Shea knew where he stood.
“They were very honest with me when I came here,” Shea said. “They told me, like they told everyone coming into camp, that you were going to have to earn it. But it was just a fresh start. It was new faces, obviously, coming in with a couple of legends. Those guys, the management, the coaching staff, and the team welcomed me with open arms.”
And on Oct. 21, 2023, Shea made his NHL debut at age 25 against the St. Louis Blues. He played 70 games across his first two seasons with the Penguins, with President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas saying that Shea had some opportunity, “but not any consistent opportunity up above.”
Dubas went on to say that Shea started off a bit lower in the lineup during training camp, and continued to earn his way up as the preseason went on, and they let him run with it.
“And to Ryan's credit, awesome person, I think unanimously loved by players and staff. Great personality and disposition about him day to day, and really has taken to the developmental work off the ice... whether it's been here in Wilkes and in the previous seasons, and especially this year,” Dubas said.
“So, you're happy for those guys that it's really their first time getting that level of opportunity. And it's a credit to them, it's a credit to the coaching staff and development staff and to the pro scouting department in identifying them. But it's really when the whole organization comes together and finds those guys and believes in them and seeing how that can work. So, those are good stories.”
Now 28 years old, Shea has already doubled his previous career high of five points, picking up 10 points through the first 26 contests. He has two goals and eight assists.
“I still think there's more in my game,” Shea said. “Obviously, points are coming, but I'm a more defense-first type of guy. I think Tanger and I are bouncing in a positive way off each other right now. That trust doesn't just come. You’ve got to earn it every game.”
He’ll look to do that again on Sunday against his former club, with the Penguins facing off against the Stars to cap off a three-game road trip.
“You just get comfortable, and when you're comfortable, it's easy to get more confident and build on your game,” Shea said. “I just wanted to bring my best self and be competitive every year to push up in the lineup and earn more ice time.”
