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<p>Jean-Sebastien Dea spent last summer working to improve his strength and speed, hoping it would pay off this season.</p><p>It has.</p><p>In his second year as a pro, Dea&#8217;s 19 goals are a career high, as are his 35 points. But for a player who scored 45 and 49 goals in his last two seasons in juniors, Dea is using a different stat to gauge his success.</p><p>After posting a plus-1 in 43 games with the Penguins last season, Dea is a respectable plus-14 this year. It&#8217;s a sign that the goal-producer has bought into the importance of being a two-way player.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s something I thought about this summer,&#8221; Dea said. &#8220;I came from juniors with a lot of numbers, but at this level you have to be good on both sides of the ice. That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m working on and it&#8217;s been pretty good so far.&#8221;</p><p>Helping out defensively not only leads to more offense - a model defined this season by Dea&#8217;s teammate Carter Rowney, it has also made him a more complete player.</p><p>&#8220;If I want to make it to the next level, I have to be a two-way player,&#8221; he said.</p><p>But that doesn&#8217;t mean Dea is going to neglect his high offensive upside. Going into this weekend, his 143 shots are third on the team.</p><p>Shooting the puck is simply part of his game, Dea said.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a goal-scorer. To do that you have to bring pucks to the net,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Head coach Clark Donatelli, who also coached Dea for a handful of games last season in Wheeling, said the biggest change he&#8217;s seen in the 22-year-old is maturity. Dea doesn&#8217;t get rattled this season, Donatelli said, and even when he&#8217;s been asked to shift from center to wing it hasn&#8217;t been an issue.</p><p>Donatelli also noticed that Dea&#8217;s speed has improved, and now the next hurdle to clear is consistency.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s got to learn to play with his speed all the time. You see it for a while and it might go away,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;But he&#8217;s aware of when that happens, and that&#8217;s the biggest thing.&#8221;</p><p>Consistency on the scoresheet has also been an issue for Dea at times this season. Dea scored five goals in a month twice this season - November and March, and tallied four in January. But in December and February, Dea scored just once each month.</p><p>Dea said he isn&#8217;t thinking about his point production as much as being a two-way player and helping his team win. But he admitted the success he did have this season is attributable to his strength and speed work in the summer.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve tried to be more physical, create turnovers with my speed and be stronger on pucks,&#8221; Dea said. &#8220;I can protect it better this season. When I have to go around a guy or get hit in the corner, I can keep the puck. Last year it was easier to get pushed in the corner and lose it.&#8221;</p><p>For a player who scored massive amounts of goals in juniors and is now stronger, faster and has added a two-way component to his game, Dea has a lot of things working in his favor.</p><p>He also has a lot of motivation to keep getting better.</p><p>&#8220;I was never drafted,&#8221; Dea said. &#8220;But I knew I would have to work harder, believe in myself and keep chasing the dream. It&#8217;s going to work.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Jean-Sebastien Dea spent last summer working to improve his strength and speed, and this season he&#8217;s set career highs in goals and points. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL102915Pens4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Jean-Sebastien Dea spent last summer working to improve his strength and speed, and this season he&#8217;s set career highs in goals and points. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger file photo |Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Dea.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">In his second year as a pro, Jean-Sebastien Dea&#8217;s 19 goals are a career high, as are his 35 points. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Dea.jpg</photo1><caption1>In his second year as a pro, Jean-Sebastien Dea&#8217;s 19 goals are a career high, as are his 35 points. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger file photo |Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins see a new and improved Jean-Sebastien Dea