Ryan Shea, a 29-year-old defenceman who spent last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, signed a five-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers worth $4 million per season. Shea said Edmonton was his top choice throughout the free-agency process.
Shea's Path to Edmonton
Shea, who reached the NHL at age 26 after four years at Northeastern University and three seasons in the AHL, recorded a career-high 35 points with Pittsburgh last season. He was on the ice when Leon Draisaitl scored his 1,000th point on an Oilers power play in Pittsburgh on Dec. 16, 2025, while Shea was on the Penguins' penalty kill.
"It was the most stressful situation I’ve been in, in a while," Shea said of his first free-agency experience. His agent fielded calls from several teams while the Oilers worked to clear salary-cap space by trading Darnell Nurse to San Jose. "They weren’t telling us what they were doing but it was pretty obvious they would have to move a guy to make room. We were exploring other options and then when it happened … Edmonton was at the top of my list the whole time. They’ve got the players to get to the most important part of the season, and that’s playoffs."
Role with the Oilers
Shea is expected to slot in as the third left-shot defenceman behind Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman, playing 17-19 minutes per game. He played the fourth-most minutes among Pittsburgh skaters last season and ranked second on the team in penalty-kill ice time behind Parker Wotherspoon. Shea and Connor Murphy could form the top penalty-kill pairing for Edmonton.
"I played with some great guys in Pittsburgh, hitting milestones pretty much every other game, it seemed," Shea said, referencing teammates Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Erik Karlsson. "And it was cool to see Draisaitl get a big one against us in Pittsburgh. The bench cleared for that one. That was the biggest memory I have of those games, pretty cool."
Shea earned $900,000 last season with the Penguins. His new contract, which begins at age 29, represents the largest payday of his career. He will help replace minutes lost by Nurse's departure and bolster Edmonton's penalty kill.
