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/MjAwOTEwMTQ2NjAyMjgwMTQw/usatsi_20222732_168400847_lowres.jpg] Shane Pinto With training camp opening on Wednesday, the Ottawa Senators are still trying to get Shane Pinto under contract. That's sparked some conjecture over whether they'll trade the 22-year-old center. The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch [https://ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/ottawa-senators/garrioch-big-week-ahead-for-ottawa-senators-will-be-led-by-sale] reports Senators GM Pierre Dorion indicated last Thursday the club is working hard to sign Pinto. Coming off his entry-level contract, the youngster has almost no leverage. Lacking arbitration rights, he also doesn't have a sufficient number of games played to be eligible for an offer sheet from a rival club. With just about $784,000 in cap space, the Senators need more than that to re-sign Pinto, who's coming off a 20-goal rookie season. They could move a bottom-six depth player via trade or waivers to free up cap room for the young center. Ottawa also has RFA forward Egor Sokolov still to sign. Garrioch [https://ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/ottawa-senators/snapshots-the-ottawa-senators-and-shane-pinto-need-to-settle-their-impasse] also indicated a couple of teams had reached out to Pinto's agent to find out what kind of term and salary he was seeking. They were referred to Dorion if they were interested in making a trade. Garrioch thinks it's highly unlikely the Senators will move Pinto as they consider him a key player on their third line. However, it's believed the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers have made inquiries. This isn't the first time the Bruins have been linked to Pinto. Boston Hockey Now's Jimmy Murphy [https://bostonhockeynow.com/2023/09/04/nhl-trade-will-bruins-make-a-push-for-mark-scheifele/] suggested they look into the Senators center after a source told him teams were looking into the youngster's availability. It's been rumored they could dip into the trade market to shore up their depth at center following the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. The rebuilding Flyers, meanwhile, could have an eye on Pinto joining their young core of centers like Morgan Frost and Noah Cates. On the 32 Thoughts podcast [https://www.sportsnet.ca/podcasts/32-thoughts/babcock-resigns/], Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said the Flyers reportedly made an offer to the Sens that would've involved Pinto and winger Mathieu Joseph as a salary dump. However, the offer didn't seem to get much traction.
