Conor Sheary is part of a bigger problem

The New York Rangers have had their fair share of serviceable veteran bottom-six wingers over the years. Think of people like Jimmy Vesey, Sean Avery, Ruslan Fedotenko, Benoit Pouliot and now supposedly Conor Sheary. While some were better than others, the idea was always to have a player in a clear role who could provide value in a space that the potential customers in the system weren’t ready for yet. Often it was the right decision and it worked.

Currently, Conor Sheary has permanent residency in the Rangers top nine. Sheary hasn’t been scratched yet and has actually seen promotions rather than demotions in the lineup. Sheary, a former Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup champion (a team coached by current Rangers coach Mike Sullivan) was all but discarded by his last team, the Tampa Bay Lightning. If there was ever a definition of a player who saw his NHL career end one day at a time, it would be 2025 Conor Sheary.

But instead of Rangers raising the issue with Sheary, the winger continues to get opportunities. Sheary, he scored zero goals and five assists during the season, didn’t look dangerous at all. He’s been a poor fit on every line he’s played on, can’t seem to keep up with the NHL pace, and has produced zero moments that make fans think he’s worthy of a roster spot.

Still, Conor Sheary continues to play, likely because of his motor skills and work ethic on the ice. This is emblematic of a larger problem in the NHL. If a coach knows and trusts a player, it doesn’t really matter how he plays. Mike Sullivan is a great coach, but he’s clearly not immune to this problem. Sheary hasn’t given anything to the Rangers organization, but because Sullivan trusts him, Sheary gets ice time over the likes of Gabe Perreault, Brett Berard and even Dylan Roobreck.

The other problem here is that Rangers are clearly a team in desperate need of developing young players. The very fact that Conor Sheary occupies a place on the list is deeply concerning for an organization that has a sufficient number of bottom six candidates under the age of 25.

Prior to The Letter in the Jeff Gorton era, the Rangers seemed to be a franchise that refused to believe their own shortcomings. Then came The Letter, the Rangers completed their “rebuild” and things seemed better.

Now Chris Drury seems to be in the same boat as Gorton was back then, and he’s failing the same test. Instead of giving young players the opportunity to learn their NHL games, the Rangers are acting like a team that needs flawless players so they can jockey for the best playoff spot.

In addition to the fact that the Rangers have no chance of winning the Stanley Cup this season, they also kept their draft pick instead of their pick in last season’s draft, with the realization that they might have to take a step back.

In a perfect world, Conor Sheary would be removed from the squad and Rangers would understand they have young players to develop. It is generally not a perfect world in Rangersland.

\