The Ottawa Senators have signed forward Shane Pinto to a 4 year, $30M contract extension which will carry an average annual value of $7.5M per season.
“It’s awesome,” Pinto told reporters. “We’ve been building something pretty cool the last few years here, and just for them to show the commitment to me that I’m part of the core, it’s awesome. I’m super grateful and happy to be here.”
Excitement over getting a deal done was shared by the front office as well, with General Manager Steve Staios echoing Pinto’s relief of putting pen to paper.
“It’s a great day for the organization,” Staios said. “He’s a very important player for us that continues to get better. A credit to both sides. You get into these good, long dialogues and, during the season, it could become a distraction. We’re happy to get it done.”
Pinto was off to one of his best starts as a pro, notching 8 goals, and 6 assists through his first 17 games played. Set to become a restricted free agent (arbitration eligible) on July 1st, fans knew that the 25 year old was due for an increase from his $3.75M deal he was currently playing on. The question however was how much, and whether the club would opt for a bridge deal, or a long term contract.
According to reports, Pinto’s side was looking for a deal somewhere in the $7.1-8.3M range when negotiations began. Meanwhile, Ottawa’s side was seeking something in $5-7M rage, with the club having tabled an 8 year, $52M extension last month.
However, the Franklin Square, NY native’s blistering start to the season likely forced management’s hand, as they could either meet Pinto’s camp’s demands, or risk seeing the centre have a career year and driving that number even higher.
In the end, cooler heads prevailed and a tidy deal at $7.5M per season was agreed upon, which will also make Pinto a free agent for his age 30 season. That flexibility will allow Pinto to then sign another large term/value contract, while also not tying Ottawa’s hands financially with an albatross deal for a mid 30’s forward likely on the back end of his career.
The 6’3″ forward told reporters that he was happy to have the distraction behind him. “Towards the end, it was getting to be a little bit of a distraction…When we were close to it, I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t a bit, but I’m just glad it got done.”
“Now, I can just worry about hockey and winning some games. I’m glad it’s over with.”
Ottawa is next in action at home against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night in a pivotal Atlantic Division showdown. Boston currently sits 2 points ahead of the Senators in the standings, with one game in hand.
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.