The latest on the Senators’ contract talks with Shane Pinto plus more speculation over potential goalie targets for the Lightning in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
LATEST ON PINTO
OTTAWA SUN: Bruce Garrioch reports the Senators and Shane Pinto appear to be at a stalemate in contract negotiations. It remains to be seen if either side will bend in time for the 22-year-old center to report to training camp before the Senators’ final preseason game on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Garrioch cited Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reporting over the weekend that the gap between Pinto and the Senators had widened after the club offered a one-year, $1-million contract. It’s believed that the offer came with the provision that the two sides would meet in January to discuss an extension.
There’s talk Pinto seeks a deal worth $2.5 million annually while the Senators prefer something closer to the two-year, $4.2 million contract ($2.1 million average annual value) earned by Philadelphia Flyers center Morgan Frost.
Garrioch believes the two sides aren’t that far apart and could settle on a two-year contract. The Senators have no intention of trading Pinto and he doesn’t want to move. Pinto also has little leverage as he lacks arbitration rights and is ineligible to receive an offer sheet from a rival club.
THE ATHLETIC: Ian Mendes pointed out that the Senators only have around $900K (as per Cap Friendly) in salary cap space. He also noted that Pinto cannot sign a bonus-laden one-year contract with a base salary in the $900K range. Mendes thinks the trust between the two sides may have eroded to the point where the Pinto camp won’t agree to a one-year $900K contract with the promise of a more lucrative extension in January.
Mendes suggests this is about how much the Senators actually value Pinto. He thinks they’ve already sent a clear message about his importance to the team by prioritizing everybody else around him.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Senators management supposedly wants to get Pinto signed and doesn’t want to trade him yet they re-signed everyone else first plus they invested $5 million in cap space on signing unrestricted free agent Vladimir Tarasenko. If he’s so valuable they should’ve locked him up as soon as possible before signing lesser players or making a splash in the free-agent pool.
I get that Pinto has no leverage here other than to sit out. Senators general manager Pierre Dorion was undoubtedly hoping to use that to his advantage to get him signed to an affordable short-term contract with the promise of a better deal down the road.
If the Pinto camp sought something far more expensive than $2.5 million per season I could understand management’s hardball position. However, what he’s asking for isn’t unreasonable for a forward coming off a 20-goal season that saw him finish fifth among rookie scorers.
Dorion’s signing of Tarasenko before getting Pinto under contract created this situation. He’ll have to shed salary via trade or waivers to get the young center signed before the coming season. That will bring Pinto back into the lineup but moving out another player could also affect their overall depth.
MORE SPECULATION OVER LIGHTNING GOALIE TARGETS
SPORTSNET: Luke Fox recently speculated over which goaltenders the Tampa Bay Lightning could target to fill the gap between the pipes with starter Andrei Vasilevskiy sidelined by back surgery.
Fox thinks Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois will have his eyes glued to the waiver wire in the coming days. He wondered if BriseBois put in a claim for Spencer Martin, who was plucked away on Saturday by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Calgary’s Dan Vladar and his $2.2 million cap hit could be too expensive for the cap-strapped Lightning. More affordable options could include Toronto’s Martin Jones ($875K) and Pittsburgh’s Magnus Hellberg ($785K).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’m also thinking BriseBois could go the waiver route. Vladar would be a better option but the Lightning not only lack cap space but also depth in draft picks to use as trade bait.