Following his hot start to the 2025-26 campaign, the Ottawa Senators are looking to lock up center Shane Pinto to a long-term deal. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on ‘Saturday Headlines’ [https://x.com/Sportsnet/status/1979713792926986404], the Senators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators] have an eight-year contract extension on the table for Pinto. Friedman didn’t share many details on this potential deal between Pinto and Ottawa [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/latest-news/shane-pinto-s-hot-start-continues-in-senators-4-3-shootout-win-over-seattle], but did share that the team was sending a clear message about their player. “The Senators put an eight-year offer on the table for Pinto,” Friedman said during Saturday’s broadcast. “I’m not saying anything is imminent, and I don’t necessarily think anything is close, but what I do believe is the Senators wanted to show that they are serious about putting a stake in the ground to keep him.” Pinto has been the most impressive Senator so far this season and leads the team in goals and assists. The 24-year-old has seven goals and one assist in six games. Pinto is a pending RFA as his two-year, $3.75-million contract [https://puckpedia.com/player/shane-pinto] expires at the end of this season. Despite Ottawa sitting second-last [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators/latest-news/travis-green-after-senators-5-4-loss-to-islanders-a-lot-of-things-we-took-pride-in-last-year-we-weren-t-good-at-tonight] in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/predicting-the-nhl-s-atlantic-division-rankings-in-2025-26], Pinto leads the league in goals and is tied in seventh for the most points in the NHL. He’s tied with Colorado Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche]’s Nathan MacKinnon and Winnipeg Jets [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/winnipeg-jets]’ Mark Scheifele. Shane Pinto (Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/31c92c88-6b9e-4b70-8904-60b25b394672.jpeg] Shane Pinto (Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images) Not only is Pinto on pace for an excellent season offensively, but he’s also averaging a career-high 18:31 of ice time in this young campaign. He’s spent most of this season in the middle between Ridly Greig on his left flank and Claude Giroux on his right. With his stellar offensive numbers, Pinto is leading all Senators forwards in shorthanded time on ice, according to naturalstattrick.com [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/playerteams.php?fromseason=20252026&thruseason=20252026&stype=2&sit=pk&score=all&stdoi=oi&rate=y&team=OTT&pos=S&loc=B&toi=0&gpfilt=none&fd=&td=&tgp=410&lines=single&draftteam=ALL]. It’s easy to see why the Senators would be interested in locking up the centerman, as he is a valuable member of the team in his sixth NHL season. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
