Riley Sheahan - Underappreciated and Overshadowed?

[Prashanth Iyer 3]

So I've seen so many articles of late talking about how great Nyquist and Tatar are and they are absolutely correct. However, one guy not getting enough attention is Riley Sheahan. I took a look at his numbers and they are actually quite impressive. Here's my breakdown of Sheahan, but I'm really interested in hearing what everybody's opinion of him is.

http://thehockeywriters.com/riley-sheahan-detroits-overshadowed-young-gun/

[Echolalia 2,961]

The biggest thing Sheahan has going for him is his size (pun definitely intended). He can protect the puck pretty well already, and as he continues to adapt, Sheahan is going to be a beast in the greasy areas.

[wings87 1,290]

Terrific passer and as he gets older his physical game should improve. Plus he's got a wicked wrister, that I wish he'd use more.

[matt198913 932]

He's not the outspoken star that Tots is nor the goal scorer Gus is, but he's my favorite of the bunch because he does all the little things right and can chip in with a goal. Doesn't have quite the size but reminds me of what Keith Primeau did for Steve Yzerman and Fedorov back in the day. Big center that can dish the puck and take up a lot of space in front of the net... Ala the Tartar goal the other night.

[amato 3,210]

maybe not from the media (yet) but, i think sheahan is getting plenty of appreciation. most every wings fan I know mentions him when they're talking about how good a game was/good things about the season. I'm excited to watch Riley progress.... he's come a long way since the teletubby days.

[Dabura 12,232]

He's playing like a legitimate second-line center. Given that everyone - everyone - had him pegged as a borderline bottom-sixer, that's amazing. To me, it's that he's well-rounded. Big, good on both sides of the puck, and a ton of upside. I friggin' love this guy.

[wings4thecup06 504]

Definitely. Underappreciated hands, and a terrific shot. Seriously, some of the goals he's set up recently have been nuts.

[WingsallTheway 383]

Sheahan to me has come out of nowhere and exceeded all of my expecations. His play this season has him becoming one of my favorite players.

His vision as a playmaker is AWESOME and he always seems to make the right hockey play.

[nawein 324]

At the beginning of this year, I was ready to trade this guy for a 5th round pick. Out of options after this year, didn't show anything special stat wise in gr or in his cups of coffee in previous years, might make a bottom six somewhere, nothing special dime a dozen type of player. This guy got his shot, took it and ran with it. He's being exactly the player we signed Weiss to be. His hands are extremely underrated, has a wicked wrister, uses his size well, and plays the style of game that compliments skilled flashy wingers like Tatar perfectly. Wihout the emergence of him, tats, gus, jurco and glendening this team would be floundering near the bottom of the league. Sheahan is probably the most underrated of the group as far as media recognition, and one of the more inportant to our success this year.

[nyqvististhefuture 1,002]

He's under appreciated cause nyquist and Tatar and getting most of the goals and this is sheahans still new .... Starting next season here with us I'll expect he will get a lot more praise and look even better than he does now

[wingedominance13 112]

the one person who matters, babs, loves this kid so i dont think those in the position to under appreciate him do. but we as fans.. maybe.

[MabusIncarnate 5,359]

I don't want to overstep here and go overboard, but I can see him in the future playing the same role Larionov did. He has the passing skills already, numerous times a game you look at a play he makes and think "What a pass by Sheahan there". He's capable of being among the better playmaking 2nd line centers in the league, might drop a few 50 assist seasons down the line. Who knows, but right now, first year, thrown into this situation not even anticipating playing for the Wings for a few years, he has impressed me and is a valuable piece to our current run.

[LeftWinger 5,131]

remember, Sheahan was a 1st round pick. He had a great career at Notre Dame. Everyone was ready to write him off because he had a bit of a maturity problem. I liked the draft pick and am so glad he is making it. He will be a Red Wing for a long time!

...so wait, Primeau is responsible for Yzerman and Fedorov's success? Need you be reminded, Primeau was a huge bust here and never did anything of significance...the only good thing he did was get us Shanahan.

[dropkickshanahans 463]

Good article, Prashanth. I remember when he was drafted, I think either Konnan or titanium mentioned something about how the Wings management liked his defensive game (being that's all he did at ND was play too responsible defensively) and that it'll translate well into the pros, but they were really interested in his offensive potential. He still has a ways to go, but man his set-ups are slick and he does play fearless in the dirty areas.

...so wait, Primeau is responsible for Yzerman and Fedorov's success?

Nobody said that.

[frankgrimes 1,836]

Love the guy he is big, young, fast and has some decent hands. 2 - 3 years topcs he will be a serious beast more players like him please.

[dirtydangles 1,328]

Things that strike me when looking at Sheahan:

- he is an unbelievable passer especially around the net

- he is big and strong on the puck and uses his size well to win puck battles

- he is very responsible defensively and covers up for tatar a lot - doesn't get caught on breakouts

- hardly ever gives the puck away

- he seems to score when he has the opportunity

- he doesn't take stupid penalties or very many at all (wasn't expecting this)

- he stays very cool and collected on the ice - looks like a vet

EDIT - one more big thing - he wins important face-offs consistently

I would also add that for me - I am most impressed with Nyquist - then Tatar and Sheahan tied - then Jurco.

Edited April 4, 2014 by dirtydangles

[T.Low 1,011]

I think it more appropriate to say unsung hero rather than unappreciated. While he doesn't get the glory or the press, The Red Wing faithful definitely appreciate his work in the trenches and his feeds to the kids, etc

Maybe just semantics, maybe not, I'm not sure, but that issue aside the meat of the article was indeed fun to read.

Edited April 5, 2014 by T.Low

[LeftWinger 5,131]

Edited April 5, 2014 by LeftWinger

[Richdg 267]

Sheahan has played well, like the rest of the kids. But lets not get carried away. As good as many of these guys have looked we are still tied with the 17th most wins this year. That is with these guys playing the majority of the time.

That is not to down play anything these guys have done. they have played great! That doesn't mean they are great players. In time, maybe. But not right now. They are good players as of today. What these guys all do is give 100% every time they play, which is really fun to watch. They all still make tons of mistakes on the ice every game. Something that should improve with time. But if you read some of the threads on here, you would swear we are fighting for the presidents trophy! I mean after all, with all of these AS players we are the best in the league right?

[nawein 324]

Sheahan has played well, like the rest of the kids. But lets not get carried away. As good as many of these guys have looked we are still tied with the 17th most wins this year. That is with these guys playing the majority of the time.

That is not to down play anything these guys have done. they have played great! That doesn't mean they are great players. In time, maybe. But not right now. They are good players as of today. What these guys all do is give 100% every time they play, which is really fun to watch. They all still make tons of mistakes on the ice every game. Something that should improve with time. But if you read some of the threads on here, you would swear we are fighting for the presidents trophy! I mean after all, with all of these AS players we are the best in the league right?

With all the kids playing like they are and a healthy Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Franzen for the whole year, I think we could have been fighting for a presidents trophy. Nobody said they're superstars. You have to give credit where credit is due though. These kids, most of which in their first or second full year (Sheahan, Tatar, Nyquist, Jurco, Smith, Glendening, DeKeyser, Lashoff), put this team on their backs when our two world class players went down and they're about to make the playoffs when everyone had written them off. No, none of them are currently superstars or would make an all star team (I could make a case for DK and Gus) so let's just completely disregard what they've done for this team because they're not all stars in their first years in the league. A bunch of rookies defied a lot of odds to get this team into the playoffs. Be grateful.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

A lot of Sheahan's increased offense has to do with his role. ND played a defense first system, and with the Grifs he was their shut down center, again focusing more on defense. Now he's being allowed to play more offense, and he's producing. That doesn't mean he's a sure fire #2 center, but I think he can play the grinder role for a couple skilled wingers, like Steve Rucchin did with Anaheim, only to a lesser extent. At worst I think he'll be a big bodied defensive 3rd line guy.