Conor Sheary’s agent is hopeful that an arbitration hearing won’t be needed with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And that same agent has reason to be optimistic, since he’s also the agent for Brian Dumoulin, who settled at the last minute today.
“Each (case) is so different,” Andrew Gross told the Post-Gazette this morning. “Ultimately, though, team and player would like to avoid going in that room. It’s not a pleasant experience.”
Sheary’s hearing isn’t scheduled until Aug. 4. The 25-year-old forward is coming off a 53-point regular season. In his young NHL career, he’s already won two Stanley Cups.
That said, the Penguins can’t afford to break the bank on an extension. After all, a big reason for their success has been having players like Sheary on affordable deals -- a necessity with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and Kris Letang taking up so much cap space.
Sheary wasn’t all that productive in the 2017 playoffs either, scoring just two goals with five assists in 22 games, while finishing a team-worst minus-5 for the postseason.
“We’re prepared to go to arbitration,” Pens GM Jim Rutherford said last week.
Of course, Rutherford was also speaking about Dumoulin, and the two sides were able to reach an agreement on him.
You can probably expect a similar outcome with Sheary.
Just don’t bet the house on it.