Shane Pinto talks about his expectations for the coming season After all the distractions of last season, Ottawa Senators [https://puckpedia.com/team/ottawa-senators] centre Shane Pinto [https://puckpedia.com/player/shane-pinto] was hoping to put everything behind him and have a season free of adversity. So much for that. Sens head coach Travis Green told the media on Sunday that Pinto is now listed as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury. Ridly Greig [https://puckpedia.com/player/ridly-greig] is expected to take his spot at third-line centre again as the Senators face the Colorado Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/] on Sunday night. Cole Reinhardt [https://puckpedia.com/player/cole-reinhardt] will get the call again to take Pinto's spot on the roster. Pinto missed a few practices last week before finally sitting out for the first time on Friday night in Vegas, a 6-4 loss [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vegas-golden-knights/game-day/golden-knights-come-from-behind-to-defeat-senators-remain-unbeaten-at-home]. He certainly would have been leaned upon to help the Sens protect the late one-goal lead that quickly evaporated. Unfortunately, the Sens are all too used to Pinto's absence. His rookie season in 2021-22 lasted just five games before he was hit with season-ending shoulder injury. He missed camp and the start of the 2023-24 season due to a contract dispute, then was shut down for 41 games with an NHL suspension for violating gambling rules. Armed with a new two-year contract and adversity seemingly behind him, the table was set for better days. Until this injury. Hopefully, for Pinto, it's not a long-term thing. There's no word on what the issue is, and Green despises giving details. Truly, week-to-week means nothing. It could be a week. It could be four months. As we discussed in this space last week, Pinto did take hard slap shots off the skate while shot blocking in recent games. And it was clear by Pinto's reaction that both of them stung. The first was a shot from defenceman Erik Cernak [https://puckpedia.com/player/erik-cernak] in the Tampa Bay game eight days ago. The next was on Tuesday night in Utah when Pinto stopped a slap shot from defenceman Ian Cole. It's possible that one of those blocks was something more serious than just a stinger. And again, it might be something completely different. Without Pinto and defenceman Artem Zub (concussion), the lineup is expected to look like this tonight, based on yesterday's practice.
