It's playoffs or bust for the Ottawa Senators in 2023-24. Ryan Kennedy and Mike Stephens preview their season. Shane Pinto [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxMTE4NzU1MzExMzk2NTMz/usatsi_19863134_168400847_lowres.jpg] Shane Pinto The recent sale of the Ottawa Senators to new owner Michael Andlauer overshadowed management's efforts to get RFA Shane Pinto under contract. With training camp and pre-season play well underway, the 22-year-old center remains absent, awaiting a new deal. Pinto enjoyed a promising debut in 2022-23, scoring 20 goals and collecting 35 points in 82 games. The Senators plan to have him center their third line this season. Despite rumors [https://thehockeynews.com/news/will-the-ottawa-senators-sign-or-trade-shane-pinto] linking Pinto to the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers, they reportedly have no interest in trading him. Coming off his entry-level contract [https://puckpedia.com/player/shane-pinto], Pinto lacks arbitration rights and is ineligible to receive an offer sheet from a rival club. TSN's Pierre LeBrun [https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/insider-trading-the-latest-on-patrick-kane-1.2012945] believes he could sign a three-year deal with an average annual value of $2.5 million. While that's a reasonable salary for Pinto, cap space remains an issue for the Senators [https://puckpedia.com/team/ottawa-senators]. With just over $925,000 for the coming season, they have no room to sign him. LeBrun said the Senators are trying to free up cap room for Pinto, indicating winger Mathieu Joseph is out there in the trade market. The 26-year-old checking-line winger carries an annual cap hit of $2.95 million [https://puckpedia.com/player/mathieu-joseph] through 2025-26 and lacks no-trade protection. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman [https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/32-thoughts-rfa-updates-and-training-camp-notes/] believes the Flyers would be willing to take Joseph off the Senators' hands, but they won't make it easy for them. He thinks they could ask for a high-quality prospect or the first-rounder the Senators got from the Detroit Red Wings in the Alex DeBrincat trade to be included in the deal. An update to my previous Rumor Roundup regarding Steven Stamkos. I noted Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said in his Sept. 22 32 Thoughts podcast that “Tampa wouldn't be crushed” if he left. On his Sept. 25 episode [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/32-thoughts-the-podcast/id1332150124?i=1000629065150] (at the 2:20 mark), Friedman indicated that he was referring to Stamkos' 2016 contract negotiations.
