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Ottawa Senators Sign Egor Sokolov To Two-Way Contract

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The Ottawa Senators have signed winger Egor Sokolov to a one-year, two-way contract, according to a team release. Sokolov will earn the league minimum $775K NHL salary while earning $120K in the minors.

Sokolov was one of two remaining unsigned Ottawa RFAs alongside Shane Pinto and one of just six remaining leaguewide after the Minnesota Wild came to terms with defenseman Calen Addison today. He was on Ottawa’s training camp roster announced earlier today, hinting the two sides would reach a deal before camps kick off Thursday. The 23-year-old will now turn his focus to gearing up for his fourth season playing pro in the Sens organization after they selected him in the late second round of the 2020 NHL Draft. He spent nearly all of last season in the minors, leading AHL Belleville in scoring with 59 points (21 goals, 38 assists) in 70 games.

That continued a trend of strong minor-league production since joining Belleville three years ago, although it’s only led to a total of 13 NHL appearances thus far. He’ll look to at least double that number this season as he battles for a fourth-line role during training camp and, even if he doesn’t make the team, will be one of Ottawa’s first call-up options.

Sokolov not making the opening night roster is a tough scenario to envision despite his limited experience, however. He’s now lost his waiver exemption, meaning any NHL team could snag him on the waiver wire if the Sens attempt to assign him to the minors pre-season. With a cheap one-year, two-way commitment, it’s extremely likely the strong-shooting winger would get claimed.

He’ll be a restricted free agent once again next summer, but this time he’ll have arbitration rights. With Pinto still unsigned, the Senators now have just north of $120K in cap space with a roster of 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies, according to CapFriendly.

Senators Notes: Sokolov, Pinto, Andlauer

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The biggest-name Ottawa Senator who remains an unsigned restricted free agent is undoubtedly center Shane Pinto, though he’s not alone in that status. Forward Egor Sokolov is also without a contract for next season, although that isn’t anticipated to impact his ability to participate in the team’s training camp.

Sokolov was officially named to the club’s training camp roster today, while Pinto was not. And according to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, the expectation is that even if Sokolov doesn’t have a deal in place, he’ll still report to training camp tomorrow. Garrioch adds that Sokolov’s camp and the Senator have “continued to talk” on finalizing a new contract. It’s an extremely important preseason for Sokolov, who will be in a battle for an NHL job in Ottawa. He’s waivers-eligible for the first time in his career, and after scoring 109 points across the last two AHL campaigns it’s clear this is a make-or-break training camp for Sokolov’s NHL dreams in Ottawa.

Some other notes regarding the Senators:

  • Garrioch relayed an update from a radio appearance by Senators GM Pierre Dorion today, regarding the status of Pinto. Dorion said he has gone “back and forth with Pinto’s camp this morning ” negotiating an extension, but although he “wants to get a deal done as quickly as possible” he can’t actually put a timeline on when that would happen. It’s possible that the Senators are staring down the prospect of an extended absence for Pinto, something that would be a significant loss for the club. The Senators are desperate to finally escape their rebuild and make the playoffs, but have been prone to slow starts to seasons under head coach D.J. Smith. Being without a strong two-way center who scored 20 goals last season would certainly not help matters.
  • Incoming Senators owner Michael Andlauer told the media today at the Senators Foundation golf tournament that he hopes his purchase of the Senators will officially close by the end of the week. The Senators’ sale process has been a long process, but now it appears that the sale is finally reaching a conclusion, assuming Andlauer’s hopes become reality.

Philadelphia Flyers Interested In Ottawa’s Shane Pinto

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The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco shared that the Philadelphia Flyers made an offer on unsigned Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto. The offer would have also sent Mathieu Joseph, who makes $2.95MM for the next three years, to Philadelphia alongside Pinto as a cap dump. No return from Philadelphia is mentioned, although Di Marco notes that it would’ve been a roster player. He also shares that Philadelphia has, “kind of moved on” after not receiving a prompt response from Ottawa.

Shane Pinto’s contract negotiations have quickly become news worth following, as little progress has been made in finding a deal. Both Di Marco and Elliotte Friedman, in his 32 Thoughts podcast, agree that Ottawa’s preference is still to re-sign Pinto. But Friedman noted that Ottawa is aware any trade involving Pinto would return a quality player.

And that’s the real challenge. While few teams in the league are in a position to take on more cap, especially any potential cap dump that may need to be associated with the deal, Pinto is a player worth finding room for. The 22-year-old centerman scored 20 goals and 35 points while appearing in all 82 games last season – a defiant rookie showing. Friedman remains confident that, following this strong season, a market value contract for Pinto would carry a cap hit of around $2.5MM. That price coupled with Joseph’s cap dump would equate to roughly $5.5MM that any potential suitor would need to make room for.

There’s also the matter of what a fair trade return is for a player of Pinto’s quality. Friedman and co-host Jeff Marek discuss the Boston Bruins as another team that could be interested but are likely out of any true conversations given their cap situation and lack of expendable assets. With training camp looming, movement with Pinto is likely right around the corner. But whether a new deal with come with Ottawa or a new team is yet to be seen.

Boucher Injured During Fitness Testing, Won't Play In Rookie Tournament

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  • Senators prospect Tyler Boucher was notably left off their prospect tournament roster. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays that the winger tweaked his groin during fitness testing on Wednesday so they’re opting to be cautious and give him a few days to rest.  He is expected to be ready for the start of main camp.  The tenth pick in 2021, Boucher will be turning pro this season and should play a prominent role with AHL Belleville where he’ll be looking to make up for lost time after injuries limited him to just 21 games with OHL Ottawa last season.

Latest On Shane Pinto

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The NHL continues to crawl closer to the start of training camp, and as usual, most teams have done much of their heavy lifting already, eager to see how new acquisitions mesh with their new teams. Unfortunately for the Ottawa Senators, they are still left without a contract for their sixth-highest goal-scorer during the 2021-22 season, Shane Pinto.

Only last week, the Boston Bruins, who much like the Senators have little salary cap flexibility to work with, had a reported interest in acquiring Pinto to fill their newfound void at the center position. Nevertheless, only a day later, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet spoke candidly about Pinto’s situation, describing that Ottawa would need to make a trade to fit him under the salary cap for the upcoming season.

It’s no surprise as to why the Senators would want to extend Pinto, as well as the reported outside interest from other teams around the league. At 22 years old, Pinto is coming off a 20-goal season and should come at a fairly cheap price as he is coming off of his entry-level contract.

Speaking in place for new owner Michael Andlauer during Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s monthly breakfast at City Hall, General Manager of the Senators, Pierre Dorion spoke to the situation surrounding the contract of Pinto.

Dorion noted that both sides are hoping to have a deal done by next Tuesday, which could provide a resolution by the end of the upcoming weekend. However, Dorion did acknowledge there still is a gap between the two parties, and that the team does need to move a contract of magnitude in order to keep Pinto in the fold for the 2023-24 season. Dorion said, “We’re working on that one (Pinto), hard. We’d like to see him next week when we open camp“.

Whatever the outcome is for this ordeal, it’s important to point out that the Ottawa organization should be uniquely busy this weekend, unlike most teams during this time of the year. As things currently stand, the Senators have approximately $895K in cap space, and will likely need to free up around $900K-$1MM to sign Pinto comfortably. Whether it comes through a small deal, or even some roster manipulation by Dorion, a solution should be arranged by early next week.

Ottawa Senators Sign Josh Bailey To PTO

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The Ottawa Senators have signed veteran forward Josh Bailey to a PTO, the team announced today.

This signing marks the first time in Bailey’s professional career that he’ll be part of an NHL organization other than the New York Islanders. The 33-year-old was drafted by New York with the ninth-overall pick at the 2008 NHL draft and has played over 1,000 games for the franchise. In his time with the Islanders, he helped end the team’s 23-year wait without a single playoff series win.

He became a dependable top-six forward in New York, and in his best years (just after his career-high 71-point 2017-18 season) he helped turn the Islanders into a regular season and playoff juggernaut in the aftermath of franchise face John Tavares’ free agency departure.

Bailey’s playoff performances helped the Islanders come within a razor-thin margin away from the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years. He scored a combined 33 points in 41 games across those two runs, by far the best playoff performances of his career.

Just one year ago, Bailey was still widely viewed as a strong middle-six forward. He scored 14 goals and 44 points in 2021-22, but this past season his play declined. He scored just eight goals and 25 points and was at times kept in the press box as a healthy scratch by first-year head coach Lane Lambert.

Seeing as Bailey has signed a PTO rather than a full-time NHL contract, it appears NHL teams may collectively view Bailey’s decline as not a momentary lapse of form, but rather a sign of things to come for his career. The Senators are hoping Bailey will prove them otherwise, and he’ll have the chance to do just that in Ottawa during the training camp and preseason process.

On paper, Bailey stands a decent chance of earning an NHL deal in Ottawa just by virtue of the fact that he has significantly more experience than most players slated to play in the team’s bottom six.

He’ll be competing for a role on the wing against players such as Zack MacEwen, Jiri Smejkal, Parker Kelly, Egor Sokolov, Ridly Greig, Roby Jarventie, and Matthew Highmore. Bailey has more NHL experience than that group of players has combined, so if head coach D.J. Smith wants a veteran player in his bottom six, Bailey could be his best option.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Tyler Boucher Suffers Injury; Will Be Ready For Training Camp

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  • Tyler Boucher has had his development derailed by injuries since he was selected 10th overall by the Ottawa Senators at the 2021 draft. He only played in 21 games last season and missed some time in 2021-22 as well. Boucher has yet again run into injury trouble, suffering a groin injury in his preparation for the Senators’ rookie tournament. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Boucher “won’t participate” in the rookie tournament, but “will be fine for camp.” While it’s certainly possible that this injury is just a one-off issue that won’t cost Boucher very much in the long term, (one hopes this is the case) the fact that Boucher has had such persistent trouble staying healthy is a cause for concern with his development. Boucher was always going to be more of a project pick, with the Senators hoping that after a few years of development, Boucher could learn to leverage his impressive physical tools into on-ice success. It’s unclear whether he’s been able to do that to this point, though in order to make 2023-24 a valuable season of development he’ll need to be able to get onto the ice as much as possible.

Sale Of Senators Now Unlikely To Be Made Official This Week

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  • While there was some hope that the sale of the Senators to Michael Andlauer would be finalized by now, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes that this is no longer the case. While there isn’t believed to be any issue – the financing is secure and he has already received approval from the NHL’s Executive Committee – things are moving slower than expected.  Now, the hope is that the sale will be made official by Monday.

Canadiens Acquire Rights To Jakov Novak From Senators

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The Canadiens have made a small addition to their prospect pool as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve acquired the rights to forward Jakov Novak from the Senators in exchange for future considerations.

The 24-year-old was a seventh-round pick by the Sens back in 2018 (188th overall) after a strong showing with Janesville of the NAHL.  Novak went on to play three seasons at Bentley University before transferring to Northeastern for the final two years of his college career.  Last season, he posted eight goals and four assists in 35 NCAA contests before turning pro, signing with Allen of the ECHL, Ottawa’s affiliate in that league.  At that level, he got into 14 games and fared well, collecting seven goals and five helpers.

It was believed that Novak’s NHL rights would have lapsed back in mid-August but that wasn’t the case on a technicality since he had already signed an AHL contract with Laval, Montreal’s farm team.  Now, the two sides have finalized the rights swap, giving the Canadiens the ability to sign him to an entry-level deal if they so desire.

Nick Holden Retires, Joins Golden Knights Front Office

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Longtime NHL defenseman Nick Holden is retiring after a 12-season career and will immediately join the Vegas Golden Knights’ player development staff, according to a team release. His specialty will be working with the team’s group of young defensemen.

Initially eligible for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Holden went undrafted and didn’t make it to an NHL organization until the Columbus Blue Jackets signed him to an entry-level contract in 2008 after completing his junior career with the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins (who have since relocated to Victoria to become the Royals). He would remain in the Blue Jackets organization until 2013 but spent most of it in the AHL, playing just seven NHL contests without recording a point. An unrestricted free agent in 2013, he signed a two-year, $1.2MM contract with the Colorado Avalanche, which jumpstarted his career. Finally playing his rookie campaign as a 26-year-old in the 2013-14 season, Holden recorded 25 points in 54 games for the Avs while averaging nearly 19 minutes per game.

He would settle into a top-four role during his peak, averaging over 20 minutes per game from 2014 to 2019. His career-best season came as a member of the New York Rangers in 2016-17, posting 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points in 80 games and a +13 rating. With the Rangers struggling the following season, however, they dealt him to the Boston Bruins at the 2018 trade deadline, where he played a depth role down the stretch. That led him to sign with the Golden Knights for their second season, and he gave them solid play over the course of three seasons from 2018-19 to 2020-21. After slipping down the depth chart and playing just 17 regular-season games in 2020-21, however, they dealt him to the Ottawa Senators in a swap for scoring winger Evgenii Dadonov.

Holden spent the final two seasons of his career in a Sens jersey, recording 35 points in 141 games while averaging 18:24 across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. His final NHL appearance came in an overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on April 13 of this year, in which he recorded a +1 rating, four shots on goal, 23:13 of ice time, and one block.

After turning 36 in May, Holden steps away from the playing side of the game with 654 career appearances. During his time with the Avalanche, Golden Knights, Blue Jackets, Rangers, Senators, and Bruins, Holden amassed 52 goals, 126 assists, 178 points, and a +16 rating.

“Nick was widely respected by management, teammates, and coaches during his time with the Golden Knights as a player,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He fills an important role with our player development and will work not only with our drafted prospects but also with our young pros with the Henderson Silver Knights.”

We at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Holden on a respectable career, and we wish him the best as he moves into the next chapter of his career in the sport.

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