The Pittsburgh Penguins are unlikely to bring back a key defenseman for the 2026-27 season. At the moment, Pittsburgh has four significant pending unrestricted free agents in Anthony Mantha, Stuart Skinner, Ryan Shea, and Noel Acciari. It was previously revealed that Mantha is unlikely to re-sign with the club. Now, another report suggests the same for Shea.
According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the Penguins are not expected to make a suitable offer to the blueliner. Shea, 29, is coming off a career year in Pittsburgh. In fact, the defenseman recorded 35 points on the campaign, 30 more than his previous NHL best. The late-bloomer also led the entire Penguins roster with a +30 rating. The next-best player on the team finished with a rating of +17.
Because of this impressive jump, Shea will be looking for a significant raise this summer. The defenseman previously signed a one-year, $900K deal with Pittsburgh for the 2025-26 season. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston recently ranked Shea as the 23rd-best unrestricted free agent in the NHL.
“The left-shot defenseman is known for his two-way play,” wrote the reporter. “He has strong positional awareness, good size, and gets around the ice well. He developed into an effective penalty killer for the Penguins as well.”
According to Johnston, Shea is projected to earn a four-year deal worth around $4.3 million AAV this summer. In total, the blueliner would receive just over $17 million over the duration of the contract if this ends up being true.
Pittsburgh Penguins Have Money to Keep Ryan Shea if They Wanted to
GettyRyan Shea became a key piece of the puzzle for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2025-26 season.
The writing has seemingly been on the wall regarding Shea’s future with the Pittsburgh Penguins. After getting bounced from the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, the blueliner revealed that he has not had conversations with top Penguins exec Kyle Dubas about a contract extension. Instead, Shea insisted that he just wanted to focus on his play during the postseason run.
The veteran then hinted that his time with the organization could very well be coming to an end. “I’ll wait until I hear from [the Penguins] or whatever their direction is,” claimed Shea. “Either way, my time in Pittsburgh has been nothing but great, and I’m happy for every second of it.”
According to Puckpedia.com, the Penguins seemingly have plenty of money to re-sign Shea if they truly wanted to. Pittsburgh has nearly $38 million in projected cap space this summer. The club could extend the blueliner and still have room to make other moves.
Pittsburgh Has Positional Needs in Other Areas
Shea will, however, receive plenty of calls from other teams in the offseason. In fact, LeBrun claimed that the defenseman was “generating attention” in the free agent market. Shea’s agent, Matt Keator, has already claimed that his client will be in for a solid pay raise. “The [salary] cap’s going up. There’s a lot of money in the marketplace,” Keator recently said, as reported by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He’ll have a lot of options.”
While potentially losing Shea would sting, Dubas and the Penguins may have bigger needs. A quality center, goaltender, and right-handed defenseman likely top Pittsburgh’s offseason wish list. Shea, on the other hand, is a left-handed blueliner.
Penguins Projected to Lose Star Defenseman in $17 Million Deal