- Ryan Shea signed a five-year, $20 million deal with Edmonton on the opening day of free agency
- The blueliner is walking into his first Oilers camp with something to prove after three straight one-year deals in Pittsburgh
- Read below for what Shea said about going from Crosby to McDavid and the hole he fills on the Oilers’ blue line
Ryan Shea isn’t heading to Edmonton to soak it all in.
The 29-year-old defenseman signed a five-year, $20 million contract with the Oilers on July 1, and he made it clear he plans to earn his spot from the jump. Shea talked about the mindset he’s carrying into a new dressing room.
“You’re going into a new locker room, so you want to go into camp ready to go and show all the guys and the coaching staff that I’m not messing around,” Shea told NHL.com.
The deal gives Shea something he hasn’t had in a while. He signed three straight one-year contracts in Pittsburgh, betting on himself each time, and now he has real stability with a team built to chase a Cup.
Shea is also one of the few players who can size up Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby side by side. He spent three seasons around Crosby, and now he gets the other guy in that conversation.
“You get Sid that has been around the game for so long and he’s won Cups and done everything you can do pretty much in the League,” Shea said. “And now you’re going to be playing with probably the best player to put on skates.”
McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman all texted him a welcome before he’d even unpacked. Shea is coming off the best year of his career, too, with personal bests of six goals, 29 assists and 35 points in 80 games. His plus-30 rating led the Penguins.
Here’s Shea burying two goals in a 2:34 span against the Rangers last season:
The road here was a long one. Chicago took Shea in the fourth round back in 2015, and he needed four years at Northeastern and three more in the AHL before he stuck as a full-time NHLer in 2024-25.
In Edmonton he steps into the minutes left behind by Darnell Nurse, who the Oilers shipped to San Jose on the same day Shea signed. That leaves him on a crowded blue line with plenty to prove.
After three years of one-year bets on himself, Shea gets five years to show the Oilers were right to hand him the deal.
