Rumors of Shane Pinto signing a new contract with the Ottawa Senators have been heard of during this season. Pinto will be a restricted free agent after this season.
At 25 years old, Pinto has been part of the Senators organization since being drafted 32nd overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. Pinto has recorded 121 points in 227 games in his career.
Pinto's potential is undeniable as one of the Senators' best goal scorers. With his age and potential, the Senators need to sign him for years down the road. However, team history and how this season has gone may show that the Senators waiting to extend Pinto after the season may be better.
Why after the season may be better to extend Pinto
There are four core players to look at when they were extended by the Senators: Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson. All four players have one thing in common: they were extended when a new season was approaching.
Chabot was the first one. In September 2019, Chabot signed an eight-year contract extension at $8 million per year. Chabot was on the final year of his restricted contract at the time of his extension before the 2019-20 season.
Next is Tkachuk. At the time, Tkachuk was a restricted free agent in 2021. It wasn't until the day of the Senators' 2021-22 season opener that Tkachuk signed a seven-year, $57.56 million contract to remain a Senator.
Then, Stutzle. At the time in 2022, Stutzle had one year remaining on his contract. Then, in September 2022, Stutzle signed an eight-year contract at a cap hit of $8.35 million per year.
Sanderson is the last of the four. Sanderson was entering the final year of his contract prior to the 2023-24 season. Then, in September 2023, Sanderson signed an eight-year contract at $8.05 million per year.
That leaves Pinto in the middle now of what the Senators will do with him. Based on history of four of the Senators' core players, it might be best for the team to wait until after the season to sign Pinto to a long-term deal. With how this season has gone for Pinto, it may be another reason for the Senators to wait on extending Pinto.
Pinto is third on the Senators with 14 points, and his eight goals are tied for the most on the team along with Stutzle. However, the goal number is something to point out.
Pinto began the season hot with back-to-back two-goal games. After six games, Pinto has seven goals. Now, Pinto has been cold. Pinto has recorded just one goal over his last 11 games. A cold drought from Pinto with the Senators currently having lost four of their last seven games, isn't ideal at the moment.
If the Senators do extend Pinto during this season, the team takes care of arguably the top objective of the offseason, even if it was to take some fun out of next year's free agency.
Time will tell when the Senators will extend Pinto. However, team history and Pinto's recent cold drought may have it be better off if the Senators were to wait until the 2025-26 season concludes to then extend the Long Island native. Waiting for Pinto to finish the year out might be the route the Senators want to go to see if Pinto's cold drought gets worse or if it turns around quickly.