In this edition of the Ottawa Senators News & Rumors, we look at the chaotic timeline leading up to Shane Pinto signing a two-year deal, Matthew Andonovski receiving his entry-level contract, Egor Sokolov being traded, and more.
Pinto Is Sticking Around With Senators
After a few chaotic days of public negotiation from Pinto’s agent Lewis Gross, the ink has hit the paper. Pinto is remaining with the Senators on a two-year deal paying him $3.75 million per season.
Negotiating through the media is something that Gross does quite often, and it puts pressure on the teams, and it certainly worked in this case. His biggest-ticket client is William Nylander, and both contract negotiations between him and the Toronto Maple Leafs were impacted by Gross’ public information.
In the case of Pinto, it was reported that once July 1 hit they would be looking for an offer sheet, which Ottawa would have of course matched if it was less than the $6.7 million draft pick compensation threshold. That rumor was followed by reports that Pinto could ask for a trade and refuse to sign if contract negotiations didn’t start getting better.
Obviously, neither of those happened and even before signing the deal, Steve Staios went in front of the media and squashed all rumors. You have to respect Gross for trying to put pressure on the rookie general manager, who is in his first offseason, but even more respect to Staios for not cracking and getting a great deal for both sides.
Related: Senators Sign Shane Pinto to 2-Year Deal
Pinto will be a 25-year-old restricted free agent upon the expiration of the contract, which was a huge reason that it was a two-year deal, rather than three or four years. Going long-term didn’t make sense for Ottawa given their current cap situation, but after a few more seasons of Staios tinkering with the lineup to make it his own, there should be no problem getting Pinto inked to a bigger deal.
Senators Sign Matthew Andonovski to ELC
Andonovski was a fifth-round pick by the Senators in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, and just one year later, he looks to be joining the Belleville Senators.
After a strong season with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Andonovski was well deserving of a contract. The left-handed defenceman isn’t someone who is going to make his impact with offence, but even still, his 32 points ranked 33rd in the OHL among defencemen. The bulky 6-foot-2, 200-pound defender plays a very strong defensive game, including his league-leading plus-58 rating in terms of plus/minus.
In the OHL’s annual coaches poll, Andonovski got a ton of attention and it showed up in the results. Among the OHL’s Western Conference teams, he finished first for “Best Body Checker”, “Best Penalty Killer”, and “Best Defensive Defenceman”.
The most intriguing part of that list was that in the “Best Defensive Defenceman” category, he beat out Sam Dickinson, who is one year younger, but was just drafted 11th-overall by the San Jose Sharks, and even at 11th, was considered a drop in the draft for the prospect, who many predicted would go in the top seven.
With a weak prospect pool, and having a fifth-round pick pan out the way Andonovski is on the track to, players like him are crucial.
Senators Trade Sokolov for Jenik
After trading Mark Stone in 2019, the Senators now have just one asset to show for that deal, and it is Jan Jenik. Pierre Dorion once called it his proudest day as a general manager, and now the two assets brought back in the deal, Erik Brannstrom and a second-round pick used to select Sokolov, are both gone and Jenik is all that the Senators have.
There are a lot of similarities production-wise between Sokolov and Jenik, and it was a very lateral move, which was the plan. Sokolov’s future with the Senators seemed to come to a halt when multiple other players were called up ahead of him when needed in 2023-24.
Jenik is a year younger and an inch shorter than Sokolov, but is a better skater and has more potential upside. In 2021-22, Jenik was nearly a point-per-game in the American Hockey League (AHL), scoring 47 points in 51 games. In 2022-23, he faced injuries and only played 30 AHL games, and this past season his production fell off a bit. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reported that Jenik had requested a trade last offseason, and with a disrupted development path, that could have had an impact on his performance in 2023-24.
Again, it is a lateral move. Will Jenik pan out in Ottawa? There is a chance, but it didn’t seem like there was one for Sokolov anymore, and despite being a fan favourite, it was time to move on and this kind of deal was always what the expectation would be.
