Shane Pinto looks like he’s ready to shoulder a load for the Ottawa Senators this season.
A week into training camp at the Canadian Tire Centre and if anybody had any concerns about the health of the 21-year-old centre after he missed most of last season because of shoulder surgery those are being quickly erased.
Coming into the season, Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion, coach D.J. Smith and the rest of the club’s hockey operations department were confident Pinto was fully recovered from the procedure had 10 months ago but his efforts through camp are proof positive.
While the Senators dressed a lot of young players in the club’s 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday night at the Canada Life Centre, you’re not going to get any argument from anybody in the building that Pinto was the club’s best player.
“He was really good,” Smith said after the game. “The way he controlled the middle of the ice and the way he played. He was on the power play, he had a lot of touches and he looked good. He had (two points), he was a plus player and he looked good.”
Pinto finished with a goal and an assist playing and was plus-2 with 20 minutes and 25 seconds of ice time against the Jets. He played on a line with wingers Tyler Motte and Mathieu Joseph for the second straight game after they had some success in a 4-2 win over Toronto Saturday.
“I felt really good (Tuesday),” said Pinto. “My timing was there and just the little things I need to get better with was there. I’ve just got to keep getting better.”
One thing you need to know about Pinto is he’s a confident player. You can see it when he’s on the ice trying to find different ways to make plays and you can hear it in his voice when he speaks with reporters. Pinto wants to be a difference-maker.
He was given the chance by Smith and the coaching staff to play that role against the Jets because the Senators didn’t bring many veterans along for the long flight on a game day. Pinto seized the opportunity he was given by the club.
For a guy who basically hasn’t played in 10 months, Pinto looks like he hasn’t missed a beat.
“That’s fair,” Smith said. “But the pace is going to pick up as we go here and the competition will certainly get stiffer. But he certainly looks really good at this point.”
This performance came after he played 20:08 in the victory over the Leafs in Game 2 Saturday.
The last time we saw the 21-year-old Pinto he was leaving the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre in Nov., 2021 after he re-injuring a shoulder he originally suffered earlier in this season. Since then, it’s been a long road back for the University of North Dakota product.
He underwent shoulder surgery at American Thanksgiving later in November and has been working hard since to return. He played a tuneup game with the Senators at the rookie tournament two weeks ago in Buffalo just to test himself to make sure everything was okay.
“That rookie game really helped,” said Pinto.
Sometimes it can be difficult for a player coming off a devastating injury to get back up to speed. If Pinto can carry this effort into the regular season when it gets under way Oct. 13 against the Buffalo Sabres then that would really help the club’s depth in the middle.
Josh Norris and Tim Stutzle are pencilled in as the No. 1 and No. 2 pivots. This could easily be a No. 1A and No. 1B situation if both of those players live up to their potential. If they get the kind of attention from opposing teams the Senators expect, that could pay dividends for Pinto.
If the opposition is focused on trying to shut down Norris and Stutzle then that means Pinto might get a favourable matchup. It’s only a small sample size, but the early part of camp suggests he could start the season with Motte and Joseph.
The key is they’re all smart players which is why they feed well off each other.
“It fits perfect to be honest with you,” said Pinto. “Both of them are pretty similar players: They make plays, they’re fast and I don’t want to say I’m too fast but I’m able to stay with them.
“I just think we complement each other pretty well. I think it showed (against the Jets) and as training camp goes on we’ve just to keep building that chemistry.”
All three want it to work out. Motte signed as a unrestricted free agent just before camp to help the club kill penalties. He’s been a nice fit in a spot where many had restricted free agent winger Alex Formenton pencilled in to play.
“Pinto is a great two-way centre and very mature for his age. Motte has been known to be very reliable defensively,” Joseph said. “These guys are hard-working that can skate and make plays. It takes time to jell and to build chemistry to where you want it to be.”
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
Twitter: @sungarrioch
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