OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators remain optimistic about signing Shane Pinto to a contract soon, general manager Pierre Dorion said Wednesday.
The 22-year-old forward remains a restricted free agent and was not one of the 56 players who began training camp Wednesday.
"I keep on speaking with his agents on a daily basis, even today," general manager Pierre Dorion said. "We hope to have him in camp as soon as we can."
Dorion said one of the challenges with a contract for Pinto is how it affects the salary cap.
"I think that's part of the job of being a general manager," Dorion said. "In the salary cap era, you have to get creative. Other teams have done it, we see ourselves being able to do it. It's more agreeing to a contract more than anything, and after that I think things will play themselves out."
Pinto, who was selected by the Senators in the second round (No. 32) of the 2019 NHL Draft, had 35 points (20 goals, 15 assists) in 82 games in 2022-23, his first full NHL season. He is the final piece to a forward corps that was somewhat jumbled during the offseason.
After it was clear that restricted free agent forward Alex DeBrincat would not re-sign with the Senators, they traded him to the Detroit Red Wings on July 9 and acquired forward Dominik Kubalik in the deal. On July 27, the Senators signed forward Vladimir Tarasenko, a six-time 30-goal scorer, to a one-year, $5 million contract.
Despite Pinto’s status, alternate captain Claude Giroux said Tuesday that there is an abundance of positive energy heading into training camp and that the players have already gotten to work.
“I can’t talk for other teams, but with my past experiences, there’s not a lot of guys that usually come a week or two weeks early,” Giroux said at the Senators’ annual charity golf tournament. “We’re all skating and training together. It’s been a lot of fun. You can see how guys, with our expectations and what we want to do this year, you can see that guys are hitting the gas a little bit more.”
Ottawa (39-35-8) finished sixth in the Atlantic Division last season and six points behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference, missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a sixth straight season.
