What Is Ryan Shea’s Role With The Penguins This Year?

Ryan Shea has spent the previous two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has played 70 combined games, compiling three goals and six points.

He has been mostly used in a depth role as the Penguins’ seventh/eighth defenseman, but there have been times when he has needed to play on an every-night basis due to injuries. The Penguins brought him back for the 2025-26 season on a one-year contract, and he is set to compete for that seventh spot again during training camp.

There’s a chance he could win the third pairing spot on the left side, but he will have to beat out some of the other players jockeying for that spot, including Alexander Alexeyev, Ryan Graves, and Owen Pickering. Parker Wotherspoon would likely be in that spot if the Penguins were trying to contend this year, but since the team is rebuilding, he’ll be in the top four.

Shea played 39 games last year (579 5v5 minutes), and when he was on the ice, he had a 48%  expected goals rate, 49% shot attempts rate, and a 48% scoring chances rate. Both of his goals that he scored last season came in the same game against the New York Rangers on February 23.

He needs to be better at defending in his own zone this year since that part of his game regressed last year. If Shea does that, the Penguins will have a reliable seventh defenseman that they can trust to come in for a few games at a time and hold down the fort.

It’s the role that Chad Ruhwedel had on the right side for several seasons with the Penguins. He was the perfect seventh defenseman for them and was always steady when he played. That’s what the Penguins need in Shea for this season.

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