Thanks to an outlined plan that would see Shane Pinto be eligible to return for the team’s January 21st game against the Philadelphia Flyers, there was only one vital actionable part left to have it come to fruition.
A contract.
The Senators announced today that they had signed the centre to a one-year deal worth $775,000.
Pinto missed the first 41 games of the season serving a suspension for a gambling-related offence. The Empty Netters Podcast alleged the event was caused by Pinto asking his friend to log into his Draft Kings account to set his fantasy football lineup.
Whether you want to believe that story or not is your prerogative. The rumour carries a weird dynamic in that the punishment is such an over-the-top reaction that it is hard to believe this is what transpired. On the other hand, rumours about Pinto giving a proxy access to his account have been around since the story originated. And, it is easy to believe that the league would overreact because it is a very NHL thing to do.
Regardless of what happened, Pinto joins a Senators team that is finally starting to play better and more responsible hockey under Jacques Martin. In my last article, I outlined how the team’s underlying numbers have improved in the last four games and the Senators carried that through last night’s 6-2 victory over the Canadiens.
There can always be some concern about the roster, its pecking order and the unintended consequences of bringing a new player into the fold. Adding a player who was arguably its best defensive forward and someone who potted 20 goals last season will inevitably boost this team’s quality of depth.
As Jacques Martin noted from practice this morning, the return of Pinto and Josh Norris from injury likely will necessitate moving a centre to the wing. Before the Norris injury, my natural assumption was that Ridly Greig would slide over to left wing.
In Pinto’s absence, he anchored the team’s third line and posted some of the best underlying defensive metrics on the team.
Once Norris’ head slammed down onto the ice during the team’s game against the Flames, it created an opportunity for Greig to play on the Senators’ top line with Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux. Together the trio has been electric generating 74.33 percent of the total goals, 71.91 percent of the shots, 69.64 percent of the shots on goals and 74.56 percent of the expected goals in 53 minutes of ice time. When they are on the ice, the Senators generate 53.64 shots on goal per 60 (SF/60) to 23.39 shots on goal against (SA/60).
Thanks to their play and the recent success of the Mathieu Joseph, Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson line, perhaps there is a greater chance of Josh Norris moving to the wing given his defensive struggles this season. I believe Greig’s physicality, skating and controlled aggression would play to his strengths and mitigate his struggles in the faceoff dot (42.5%), but his defensive impact has been significantly stronger than Norris’ according to HockeyViz’s data.
Not only is Greig faring much better offensively, he has surpassed Norris as a more efficient defensive player.
As a player whose two-way play and defensive aptitude were praised as a prospect, it is a bit concerning to see Norris’ play taper off.
Some pundits believed that Norris was a candidate for regression because of a 20.3 shooting percentage in 2021-22, but he has always been a historically strong shooter at every professional level. That unsustainable figure was naturally going to take a hit, but he’s a career 17.4 percent shooter and his finishing ability this season still rates highly. He has never been a playmaker, but it’s sobering how much the Senators have struggled defensively while he’s been on the ice.
In fairness to Norris, missing 74 games last season and all of training camp while he dealt with a shoulder injury that necessitated surgery didn’t help. Looking at Norris’ ice time using Evolving-Hockey’s line combinations tool, it is obvious that he has struggled when he has been paired with wingers (ie. Tkachuk, Batherson, Tarasenko) who are not renowned for their defensive aptitude.
For a player whose two-way play and defensive aptitude were praised as a prospect, it is concerning to see how much Norris’ defensive metrics have cratered.
Perhaps the solution is to move him to the wing. I do not know if the answer is to play him on a line with Pinto — who, like Norris, is a finisher with less impactful playmaking skills. It may make more sense to line Norris up with Stützle and use Mathieu Joseph on the third line.
Re. your final line, someone noted on twitter that Stutzle and Joseph have eye-popping stats when playing together. Maybe it'd be better to keep them together? They were electric last nite.