Evening Notes: Savoie, Holland, Pinto

Scott Powers of The Athletic tweeted tonight that Chicago Blackhawks forward Samuel Savoie had successful surgery today on his right femur and is expected to fully recover. The 19-year-old prospect was injured yesterday after colliding with defenseman Alex Goligoski in a game against the Minnesota Wild and had to be stretchered off the ice. He was unable to travel with the Blackhawks and reportedly had surgery in Minnesota this morning.

Savoie has been ruled out of action indefinitely and appears to have a long recovery ahead of him after suffering a very scary injury. The 2022 third-round pick was expected to return to the QMJHL to be a big piece of the Gatineau Olympiques this season, but his season might have ended before it even began. Savoie had 26 goals and 33 assists in 60 games last year for the Olympiques and was expected to take a big step forward offensively this season.

In other evening notes:

• Peter Baugh of The Athletic tweeted that forward Peter Holland has elected to continue his PTO with the Colorado Avalanche and report to their AHL affiliate the Colorado Eagles. Holland will join the AHL camp as he continues his quest to get back to the NHL for the first time since 2017-18 when he dressed in 23 games for the New York Rangers. Holland was always a long shot to make the Avalanche as he did not play professional hockey last season. Despite the setback, one must admire his determination to make it back to the NHL.
• Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia writes about the latest in the Ottawa Senators negotiations with restricted free agent center Shane Pinto. Garrioch believes that the two sides will need to find common ground as Pinto is looking for $2.5MM per year on a two-year bridge contract, while the Senators are looking for a Morgan Frost type contract at $2.1MM per season. Garrioch adds that his belief is that Pinto wants to remain a member of the Senators and that the team wants to keep him long-term. Pinto had 20 goals and 15 assists last season in 82 games and is seen by many as the long-term solution for the Senators in the third-line center role. His presence will be key for the Senators as their bottom-six forward group is very underwhelming without Pinto centering the third line.