SUNRISE, Fla. – There was something on Riley Sheahan’s mind as he prepared Thursday morning to face the team that traded him away six days earlier.
It wasn’t necessarily the inherent awkwardness of competing against players who were his teammates less than a week prior. It wasn’t an overwhelming desire to prove the Pittsburgh Penguins made a mistake by getting rid of him.
It was a shorthanded goal.
The Penguins give up a lot of them and he wants one.
Defending a star-studded Penguins power play will be difficult, but opportunities for the opposing penalty kill unit to score do tend to present themselves fairly regularly these days.
“They love to move the puck and they love to make plays. We just have to be aware of that,” Sheahan said. “We gave up a lot of shorties when I was there too, so you can sort of put some extra pressure on and see if you can take advantage of that.”
While Derick Brassard heard his name in trade rumors routinely in the lead-up to Friday’s trade between the Penguins and Florida Panthers, Sheahan had less advance warning.
“I wasn’t really sure what was going on,” Sheahan said. “You didn’t see any rumors floating around there, but a few talks with my agent, things like that. It wasn’t a real want-to-get-out-of-there (situation), so it definitely caught me a little by surprise. But I’m happy the move was made. I think it’s a good fit for me here.”
Brassard said he felt like he had his ups and downs in his time with the Penguins. Last season was mostly positive. He moved on from the struggles that plagued his later days in the Detroit organization and reestablished himself as a valuable NHL player. This season was mostly negative. He saw his responsibilities diminish as he settled into a left-wing role on the fourth line.
“Right when the trade (from Detroit) happened, I fit in that year and felt like I played well and my confidence grew,” Sheahan said. “I felt like I took a little bit of a step backwards this year for whatever reason. That was tough. The move was made. It’s a good organization to be a part of now. Happy to be here.”
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Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.
