Silver Seven Newsletter: Paying The Pinto
Just how hard will it be to sign Shane Pinto?
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Why No Deal Yet For Shane Pinto?
Now that the Alex DeBrincat circus has officially left town, we can turn our collective attention to the next potential source of contractual angst: Shane Pinto. Is there a risk of the Sens being unable to sign Pinto? Barring a massive, unforeseen development, no there is not. What might that contract look like? Well, that's a trickier question to answer. If you asked the player and the team, you might uncover a fairly sizable disagreement about what constitutes a fair price for the 22 year-old.
From Pinto's perspective, he's coming off a 20 goal season, as a rookie, and he spent the majority of his ice-time at 5v5 on the second line. He also suited up for all 82 regular season games, something that had been a concern following the major injury to his shoulder in the season prior. He's not a former first-round pick, but he was nonetheless a highly-touted prospect that now looks like he might be ready to deliver on his promise through the prime years of his career. Players who meet the above description typically get paid.
From the Sens' perspective, while Pinto did indeed play the role of second-line centre last year, he will be the third line centre on next year's edition of the team if Tim Stützle and Josh Norris are healthy. And while potting 20 goals as a rookie is nothing to scoff at, 35 total points in a full 82 game season while being afforded those aforementioned second line minutes with talented linemates, and cushy deployment, isn't the type of production that leads to a premium payday. Teams typically tighten the screws on non-star-level RFAs.
