The Ottawa Senators have signed centerman Shane Pinto to a four-year, $30MM contract extension. The deal will run through the 2029-30 season. It was first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger. This move comes in the wake of speculation that Ottawa was planning to reapproach Pinto about an extension sometime this week.
The new deal will carry a yearly cap hit of $7.5MM and carry through two years of Pinto’s unrestricted free agent eligibility. That yearly salary is a full $1MM over the number believed to have been offered to Pinto on an eight-year extension before the start of the season. There was reason to believe Pinto wasn’t satisfied with the long-term deal, or slim price tag, of that previous offer per Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch. Now, he’ll find the middle ground between those factors, and maintain the chance to sign a heftier deal before he’s too far away from his prime years.
Pinto’s contract will also mark a new baseline for other young, emerging centerman across the league. He has been a true force for the Senators this season, stepping up as a much-needed second-line center and posting 14 points in 17 games, the third-most on the team. The scoring is a major surge forward from the 37 points he scored in 70 games last season, but it doesn’t seem all too unsustainable. Pinto has recorded a career-high 17.4 shooting percentage this year – 0.9 percent more than he managed last year, and 4.2 percent higher than the 13.4 percent he’s averaged since 2023. But he has also performed in-line with his expected-goals (7.0 xG to 8 goals), suggesting that his step in scoring comes from true improvements.
Finding the balance between properly rewarding a young star, without overcommitting, was the challenge that Ottawa faced. In market value, Pinto seemed to land somewhere between the likes of Marco Rossi (Minnesota, three-years, $15MM) and Connor Zary (Calgary ,three-years, $11.325MM); and the likes of Frank Nazar (Chicago, seven-years, $46.13MM) and Mason McTavish (Anaheim, six-years, $42MM). The deal Ottawa has delivered suggests exactly that, placing Pinto closer to the former in term but the latter in yearly and total salary. This move also continues the trend of young centers signing shorter-term deals, potentially setting the NHL up for exciting free agencies in a few years.
More than setting his market price, this deal will cement a deep connection between Ottawa and Pinto. The two sides have seen their fair share of ups-and-downs since Pinto was selected 32nd-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. After netting 59 points in 56 games of his sole USHL season, Pinto moved to the University of North Dakota for his underclass years. He posted 60 points in 61 games with the Fighting Hawks, and turned pro with Ottawa at the end of the 2020-21 season. Pinto was a quick impact, looking capable of keeping up with NHL speed and physicality, and posting seven points in his first 12 NHL games. He seemed well set up for a breakout campaign in 2021-22, but missed nearly the entire season with a shoulder injury that began in the fourth game of the season. He tried to return from the injury a few games later, but reinjured his shoulder and got knocked out of the season.
Pinto returned for the 2022-23 season with that breakout still top of mind. He got off to a hot start, earning October’s ’Rookie of the Month’ honors following six goals and seven points in eight games to start the year. His scoring petered out over a long November, sparking a hot-and-cold streak that’d span the year. In total, Pinto posted 20 goals and 35 points in 82 games of his rookie season. It was a modest performance, but not neccesarily the breakout many anticipated from the high second-round pick. Hopes remained high for the 2023-24 season.
But Pinto was once again derailed, this time suspended by the NHL for invovlvement with prohibited sports gambling. The League stepped up to make an example of Pinto by suspending him for the first 41 games of the season. He served through that punishment, and still looked promising in the second-half of Ottawa’s season. He scored nine goals and 27 points in 41 games, putting him on pace for 54 points across a full season, had he had the opportunity.
The return to an impact role wasn’t enough to cement Pinto’s presence in Ottawa, though. The Senators faced an uphill battle attempting to sign Pinto to a contract and then an extension amid his return from suspension. At one point, Pinto suggested he was hoping to be offer-sheeted away from the Senators organization, though he never officially requested a trade. Ultimately the two sides came together first on a one-year deal that pushed him through the 2023-24 season, then on a two-year extension that carries him through this season.
Now, Ottawa will finally cement Pinto’s spot in the lineup. He seems to be emerging as the high-octane forward the team was always hoping for, marked by a career-high 19 minutes of average ice time. He’s played over 20 minutes of ice time in three of Ottawa’s last five games, and rewarded them with three points in that stretch. The Senators’ top-end is loaded with promising, young forwards, including Tim Stutzle and Dylan Cozens. Now, they’ll add the 25-year-old Pinto to that mix for the long haul.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports.