Senators Notes: Pinto, Goaltending, Zub
The Senators and Shane Pinto were trying to work out a new contract before the center suited up for the United States at the Worlds, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. However, there seems to be a sizable gap in negotiations. Garrioch adds that both sides are interested in working out a longer-term agreement (five or six years) but there’s a big gap in the money. Pinto’s camp is reportedly seeking around $5MM per season on a deal like that while Ottawa is coming in considerably lower.
The 23-year-old missed the first half of the season after being suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy which resulted in him accepting a contract for the pro-rated league minimum of $775K upon his return. Pinto wound up being productive for the Sens down the stretch, notching nine goals and 18 assists while logging over 18 minutes a night, solid second-line numbers. Pinto isn’t yet arbitration-eligible so it’s possible that these talks could drag out as they did a year ago before the suspension came down.
More on Ottawa from Garrioch:
- The Senators shopped goaltender Joonas Korpisalo at the trade deadline but unsurprisingly, there wasn’t any interest. It was a rough first year in Ottawa for the 30-year-old who posted a 3.27 GAA and a .890 SV% in 55 games, hardly the return they were hoping for after giving him a five-year, $20MM contract back in July. Considering how the season went, a trade seems unlikely without them either retaining money or adding a sweetener so it might be easier for them to move the final year and $2.75MM of Anton Forsberg’s contract.
- Garrioch added that Ottawa kicked the tires on acquiring Linus Ullmark from the Bruins at the trade deadline. It’s widely believed that Boston will ultimately move Ullmark over the summer so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the teams rekindle discussions on that front in the coming weeks. Ullmark has one year left on his contract which carries a $5MM price tag and had a 2.57 GAA with a .915 SV% in 40 games this season after taking home the Vezina Trophy in 2022-23.
- Defenseman Artem Zub is believed to be a possible trade target this summer according to Garrioch. The 28-year-old has been a steady presence in their top four in recent years and is coming off a career-best 25 points in 69 games. Signed at a $4.6MM price tag through 2026-27, he’d make sense as a trade target for several teams if GM Steve Staios opts to shake up his back end without moving his top pieces.
USA Hockey Announces Final 2024 World Championship Roster
May 5: USA Hockey has invited nine more players to join their upcoming World Championship roster, including college hockey standouts Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Trey Augustine. The roster now carries 21 skaters and two goaltenders, one shy of the limit for both positions. There’s been no indication of who could round out Team USA’s roster, or if the team will look for additional hands at all.
It has also been announced that Dylan Larkin will no longer be able to participate due to injury, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Larkin has been removed from the official roster.
Apr. 24: USA Hockey announced the first 15 players named to their roster for the 2024 World Championship on Wednesday. The remaining eight-ish players will be announced before tournament action begins on May 10.
Only players on the 16 NHL teams who missed out on the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs are on the initial roster. Others will join in as their clubs are bounced from postseason action, even after the World Championship begins.
Early on, it’s clear that the promise of potential spots on the United States roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics is making this a more well-attended World Championship than in years past. Some big-ticket stars like Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, and Blue Jackets stars Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski highlight the initial roster. The full slate is as follows:
F Matt Boldy (Wild)
F Cole Caufield (Canadiens)
F Michael Eyssimont (Lightning)
F Joel Farabee (Flyers)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Blue Jackets)
F Kevin Hayes (Blues)
F Luke Kunin (Sharks)
F Ryan Leonard (Boston College, Capitals)
F Brock Nelson (Islanders)
F Shane Pinto (Senators)
F Will Smith (Boston College, Sharks)
F Brady Tkachuk (Senators)
F Trevor Zegras (Ducks)
D Luke Hughes (Devils)
D Seth Jones (Blackhawks)
D Jake Sanderson (Senators)
D Alex Vlasic (Blackhawks)
D Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets)
D Jeff Petry (Red Wings)
D Matthew Kessel (Blues)
D Michael Kesselring (Utah HC)
G Alex Lyon (Red Wings)
G Trey Augustine (Michigan State, Red Wings)
This year’s Worlds will take place in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia, although some pre-tournament action is taking place across the border in Bratislava, Slovakia. The U.S. is the highest-ranked country in Group B, which will play its round-robin schedule in Ostrava’s 10,004-seat Ostravar Aréna.
Panthers assistant GM Brett Peterson is at the helm of this year’s men’s national team before Wild GM Bill Guerin takes the reins for the truly best-on-best 2025 and 2026 tournaments. The Americans have won bronze medals in four of the last 10 World Championships (2013, 2015, 2018, 2021) but haven’t won gold since 1960, as part of that year’s Winter Olympics in California. Wild head coach John Hynes will be behind the bench.
Snapshots: Pinto, Sergachev, Girard
The Ottawa Senators are reportedly working on signing young forward Shane Pinto to a new deal, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts article. Friedman adds that negotiations have been a “grind”. That lines up with Pinto’s previous negotiations, with Pinto holding out on a new deal last summer, before being suspended for 41 games in late October for sports wagering. Pinto signed a one-year, league-minimum contract in January that carried him the duration of this season. He went on to tally nine goals and 27 points in 41 games – a big step down from his 20-goal season last year.
The Senators originally drafted Pinto with the 32nd-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft – then a second-round selection. He made his NHL debut in 2020-21, after two years at the University of North Dakota, and has since managed 70 points in 140 career NHL games. The 23-year-old centerman has proven capable of scoring, though he’s yet to find a consistent groove. He’s entering this off-season as a restricted free agent, meaning he’s likely due for a reunion with Ottawa, even if negotiations take some time.
Other notes from around the league:
- Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has shared that Mikhail Sergachev will miss at least Round One, says Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Sergachev hasn’t played since breaking his leg on February 7th. It was a freak injury that occurred in Sergachev’s first game back from a separate lower-body injury that held him out for two months. He was limited to just 34 games last season, though he did manage a solid 19 points. Sergachev has remained a top defender for the Lightning, averaging over 22 minutes of ice time this season. The Bolts will hope he can return as soon as possible to patch up what is currently a weaker defense group.
- Colorado Avalanche defender Samuel Girard has returned to full practice, wearing a regular jersey at the team’s Sunday morning skate per Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal (Twitter link). Girard has been battling a concussion that held him out of the team’s final two regular-season contests. They seem to have benefited from taking their time with the defender, who is now possible for Sunday’s Game One – though nothing has been confirmed. Girard has once again provided stout depth for Colorado, scoring 18 points in 59 games and averaging over 19 minutes of ice time.
Senators Notes: Coaching, Buyouts, Norris
The Ottawa Senators wrapped up their season with locker cleanout on Friday, giving general manager Steve Staios a chance to share updates with the media. He spent much of his time addressing the team’s coaching situation, saying they have a long list of candidates that they’ll whittle down over the summer, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.
The Senators have been without a long-term head coach since D.J. Smith’s firing on December 18th. Jaques Martin stepped in as interim head coach, leading the Senators to a measly 26-26-4 record and a spot well outside of the playoffs. Staios mentioned that Martin would continue with the team in a consulting role, but isn’t in the race for the vacant head coaching role. Neither is Senators legend Daniel Alfredsson, who Staios says wanted more time before pursuing the coaching path. That likely leaves the Senators looking externally, where they’ll find plenty of strong candidates.
Other notes from Staios’ press conference:
- Staios added that the team isn’t planning on utilizing any buyouts this off-season, per Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan (Twitter link). That’s despite weaker performances from costlier names, like Joonas Korpisalo and Travis Hamonic. Ottawa is projected to have $12.8MM in cap space this off-season, per CapFriendly and an $87.5MM salary cap. With no support from buyouts, that will be all they have to re-sign their six pending free-agents, including Erik Brannstrom, Dominik Kubalik, and Shane Pinto.
- Staios also shared that forward Joshua Norris is expecting to be ready for the start of next season, shares Garrioch. Norris was limited to just 50 games this season, and hasn’t played since late February, once again dealing with nagging shoulder injuries. Norris was limited to just eight games last season because of shoulder issues, and underwent the third shoulder surgery of his four-year NHL career in March. He’ll look to recover once again, and hope for healthier fortune next season.
Senators Notes: Stutzle, Pinto, Sanderson, Chabot
Ottawa Senators star Tim Stutzle was bearing through multiple injuries this season, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun (Twitter link). Garrioch reports that a wrist issue plagued much of Stutzle’s season, while a nagging shoulder injury is what’s ultimately held him out of the lineup. Stutzle missed Ottawa’s final seven games of the season, after playing in the previous 75. He told the media at locker clean-out that he, “hasn’t been feeling good for a year or something”, shares Claire Hanna of Sportscenter (Twitter link).
Stutzle ranked second on the Senators in scoring this year, totaling 18 goals and 70 points. While certainly a strong year, Stutzle’s scoring marked a big step down from the 39 goals and 90 points he recorded in 78 games last season. The persistent injuries are likely a big factor in that decreased scoring, though the Senators as a team also collected six fewer goals on the season compared to last year.
These lingering injuries will keep Stuzle from joining Team Germany at the World Championship this summer. Instead, he will focus on overcoming his lingering injuries this summer, as he prepares to once again rival the century-scoring mark.
Other notes from Ottawa’s cleanout day:
- Senators forward Shane Pinto says he’s hoping to join Team USA at the World Championship this summer, shares Garrioch (Twitter link). Pinto added that he’ll seek his own insurance for the event if he doesn’t have a new contract with Ottawa by June. Pinto will be joined by defenseman Jake Sanderson, who said he’s excited to play meaningful games and reunite with USA Hockey, per Hanna (Twitter link). Sanderson
- Meanwhile, defenseman Thomas Chabot shared he won’t be joining Team Canada due to lingering injuries, sharing that he’s not yet sure if he’ll need any surgeries, per Hanna (Twitter link). Chabot only managed 51 appearances this season, though he did score an impressive nine goals and 30 points. He’ll have the off-season to heal and look to return to continue leading Ottawa’s defense corps next season.
Atlantic Notes: Edmundson, Pinto, Rasmussen
Maple Leafs defenseman Joel Edmundson won’t be available for their next two games, head coach Sheldon Keefe said (via David Alter of The Hockey News). However, Keefe didn’t rule out the possibility of Edmundson returning later this week, potentially Thursday at home against the Devils. The 30-year-old hasn’t played since sustaining an undisclosed injury against the Hurricanes on March 24, knocking him out for now at least eight games. He’d been solid otherwise for Toronto, controlling possession quality well with a 50.5 xGF% in tough shutdown minutes at even strength through seven games. The Manitoba native is still looking for his first point as a Leaf after they picked him up from the Capitals before the trade deadline.
Other updates out of the Atlantic Division:
- Senators center Shane Pinto will suit up for the United States at the 2024 World Championship if invited, he confirmed to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia and TSN. While it’s unlikely he’ll crack the roster for the U.S. national team at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off or the 2026 Winter Olympics, Garrioch relays Pinto would like to extend his season regardless and gain experience playing meaningful games after the regular season ends. Pinto has been excellent for Ottawa since serving a 41-game suspension for violating the NHL’s sports wagering rules, racking up eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points in 36 games. He’s averaging 17:41 per game, a career-high by a long shot, and has some of the best possession numbers on the team with a 53.3 CF% and a 60.1 xGF%. The United States last medal at the 2021 tournament, winning bronze, and has lost the bronze medal game in back-to-back years.
- Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen won’t be in the lineup tomorrow for a crucial game against the Capitals in a crucial game in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, head coach Derek Lalonde confirmed. The two-way winger will miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old has done well before his four-year, $12.8MM extension kicks in next season, posting a career-high 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 75 games. He’s logging over 15 minutes per game for the second consecutive campaign, and while his possession numbers have dipped from last season, he’s receiving much more frequent deployment in the defensive zone.
Senators Agree To Terms With Shane Pinto To One-Year Contract
The Senators have agreed to terms with RFA center Shane Pinto on a one-year deal worth $775K, the NHL league minimum salary, per a team release.
Pinto, 23, is eligible to make his season debut in Sunday’s game against the Flyers. He will miss tomorrow’s game against the Jets as he serves the final contest of his 41-game suspension for violating the league’s sports wagering rules. His contract cannot be registered with the league until Sunday.
Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch said earlier this week that the team had offered multiple contract options to Pinto as he neared his return, including multiple longer-term deals. While the Senators’ tight salary cap situation prevents them from giving Pinto a significant salary this season, they continue to work on signing a multi-year deal before Pinto reaches RFA status next summer, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. He is eligible to sign an extension at any time before July 1.
Unfortunately for the Senators, their 16-24-0 record puts them in last place in the Eastern Conference at the time of Pinto re-joining the team. Any impact the sophomore center has in his return will likely be immaterial to their end-of-season fortunes, but his play will still be closely eyed as the Senators determine who to keep and who to shed as their rebuild remains stuck in first gear.
The 2019 second-round pick churned out play worthy of a high-end third-line center last year, his first full campaign with the Sens after a shoulder injury limited him to five games in 2021-22. Posting 20-15–35 in all 82 games, Pinto ranked sixth on last year’s team in goals and, despite his -21 rating, graded well in terms of two-way play with a 51.9% Corsi share at even strength.
He still carries top-six potential despite his significant time away from the game over the last two seasons. He’ll at least find himself in a top-nine role when he suits up on Wednesday, especially as Josh Norris remains sidelined down the middle with an upper-body injury. Whether or not he usurps another promising youngster, 21-year-old Ridly Greig, for first-line duties between Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux is unclear.
Pinto will earn $387.5K in actual salary this season as a result of his contract being signed with exactly half of Ottawa’s schedule remaining. If he can’t agree to a new deal with Ottawa by the summer, he will not be eligible for salary arbitration. However, unlike last summer, he will be eligible for an offer sheet.
Senators Have Offered Several Contract Terms To RFA Shane Pinto
Senators center Shane Pinto is skating with the team and is expected to make his season debut on Sunday versus Philadelphia after serving his 41-game gambling suspension but before he can do so, he needs to sign a contract first. As Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported in an intermission feature on TSN (video link), the team has presented several different contracts to the restricted free agent.
Many expect that the 23-year-old would sign a contract at or around his previous qualifying offer which checked in at just over $874K over the summer. That would give him time to rebuild his value while giving the Senators, who have been up against the cap ceiling throughout the season when they haven’t been in LTIR, as much flexibility as possible.
But Garrioch notes that Ottawa has proposed a two-year term along with four-, five-, and six-year offers. A two-year bridge agreement was believed to be discussed over the offseason before the suspension was announced; at the time, the price tag for that agreement was believed to be in the low $ 2MM range. Such a move could still be palatable while allowing Ottawa to shift more of the salary into the second season, maximizing Pinto’s compensation while keeping the AAV of the deal lower. While it was under vastly different circumstances, Washington recently took that approach when they signed UFA defenseman Ethan Bear last month.
The longer-term agreements would obviously cost more and in some cases, walk Pinto right to free agency; he is under team control through restricted free agency through the 2027-28 campaign. Speculatively, the price tag for those agreements would push more toward the $5MM range which certainly wouldn’t fit in Ottawa’s salary cap structure. If Pinto is amenable to one of those agreements, there would need to be a cap-clearing move before the contract could be registered.
Despite the various offers on the table, the one-year agreement still seems like the most plausible scenario for both sides. Pinto is coming off a 20-goal campaign but only has 99 career games under his belt so committing to a long-term agreement would come with some risk. A one-year deal still wouldn’t make Pinto arbitration-eligible (he’s two years away as he didn’t accrue a season in 2021-22 due to injuries) but it would allow both sides more time to assess his fit on this roster. They only have a few more days to figure out which route they’ll go if they’re going to get Pinto in the lineup on Sunday.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Reinhart, Dumais, Pinto
With Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander now locked into a long-term contract extension, Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart now appears to be the top free agent who could potentially be available on this summer’s free agent market. But he may not even get there. Reinhart told Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli that discussions are “ongoing” with the Panthers on a contract extension, and the direction of those talks is “definitely positive.”
Reinhart has said that his goal is to remain in Florida, but that doesn’t mean a contract extension is a given. Seeing as the 28-year-old is on pace to score nearly 60 goals and 105 points this season, there wouldn’t be a better time, financially speaking, for Reinhart to put his services up for an expansive free agent bidding war. That being said, Reinhart’s impressive chemistry with center Aleksander Barkov plays a significant role in his offensive success, and with the favorable tax situation in Florida it could be easier to find a solution on an extension that satisfies both sides than it would be in other states.
Some other notes from across the NHL:
- Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Jordan Dumais, one of the most productive players in recent QMJHL history, is undergoing double hip surgery, according to Kevin Dubé of Le Journal de Québec. This is obviously a significant development for Dumais, who is set to be out until at least the second or third round of the QMJHL playoffs, at the earliest. Dumais has formed one of junior hockey’s best lines alongside Vegas Golden Knights prospect Mathieu Cataford and undrafted forward Markus Vidicek. Now, he’ll have to focus on his own recovery rather than chasing down a QMJHL title.
- Suspended Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto is allowed to resume activities with his teammates today, according to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Garrioch added that Pinto is expected to resume skating with the Senators on Friday. Pinto has five games remaining in the 41-game suspension that was levied upon him earlier this season. He’ll need to sign a contract before he can dress for any games, though he can skate with the team without a contract. According to Garrioch, “the expectation is he’ll sign a one-year deal at or close to the $874,125 US qualifying offer the club put in the summer” after scoring 20 goals and 35 points in his first full NHL season.
Senators Notes: Tarasenko, Pinto, Joseph
With the Senators underachieving considerably this season, they’ll likely be selling leading up to the March 8th trade deadline barring some kind of significant turnaround in the standings. To that end, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the team is expected to approach veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko about waiving his no-trade clause before the deadline. The 32-year-old inked a one-year, $5MM deal in late July after longer-term agreements that were more to his liking failed to materialize on the open market even after changing agents just days into free agency. Tarasenko hasn’t lit it up with Ottawa but does have 24 points in 32 games and would add some secondary scoring to a contending squad. The Sens would likely need to retain up to 50% in order to maximize the return when the time comes to move him.
More from Ottawa:
- Garrioch notes in the same piece that while the original plan was for Shane Pinto to have a conditioning stint with AHL Belleville later this month when he’s eligible to return, that’s no longer the case. The 23-year-old is allowed to start skating with the team on Wednesday while his first eligible game back is January 21st, allowing for ample time for him to work on his conditioning and get up to speed before making his debut. Ottawa still needs to sign Pinto but that will likely have to be a low-cost one-year deal given their salary cap situation.
- In a separate piece from Garrioch, he notes that winger Mathieu Joseph has resumed skating as he works his way back from a lower-body injury. He was recently placed on LTIR to accommodate Thomas Chabot’s activation but that was a short-term solution as Joseph could return as soon as Tuesday. If that happens, the Sens will need to do some roster juggling to get back into cap compliance. Joseph was off to a strong start before suffering the injury last month, picking up 19 points in his first 25 games.