With Shane Pinto out until January, what will Ridly Greig do for a November encore?

With all the preseason hype surrounding Chicago Blackhawks centre Connor Bedard, the 2023-24 Calder Trophy and NHL rookie-scoring race titles seemed like foregone conclusions. 

With six points in nine games, Bedard has been excellent and still everyone's pick for the Calder, but the best scoring NHL rookie for October has been Ottawa Senators centre Ridly Greig.

As we begin a new month, Greig leads all NHL rookies in scoring with 7 points in 8 games. He also tops the league's freshman class with a +7. 

With that balanced, offensive upside, Greig is also a bit prickly, making it his business to get under the skin of the other team's top players. Alex DeBrincat, Nikita Kucherov, and Tom Wilson are among the players he's irritated so far this season.

Greig may be overshadowed by more prominent NHL rookies, but he's also overlooked as a first-rounder. All the 2020 draft love in Ottawa has rightly gone to Greig's fellow first-rounders, Tim Stutzle (3rd) and Jake Sanderson (5th). But finding excellence in the top five picks is less impressive than seeing it at 28th overall, so Greig may end up being the Senators' best 2020 scouting work of the three.

However, if not for some good breaks falling his way, Greig might not be in this position. 

When training camp began, Ottawa's centre ice depth chart was stacked. The club had Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris, and Shane Pinto. Norris was scheduled to return from a shoulder surgery, and Pinto was expected to re-sign any moment. So, there was a real possibility that Greig might end up in Belleville again or a winger in Ottawa's bottom six.

But then Norris missed camp and the start of the regular season, and Pinto remained unsigned. So Greig was suddenly the number two centre. Norris has since returned, but Pinto was suspended last week for violation of gambling rules and won't play until at least January.

Greig was the NHL's best rookie scorer in October, and he did it while dealing with the distraction of Pinto's possible return. With that now off the table, it'll be fascinating to see what Ridly Greig can do for an encore in November.