The Senators still “working hard” to get Shane Pinto signed
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: A source confirms the sale of the Ottawa Senators will be completed this week.
The Senators still need to re-sign RFA forward Shane Pinto. Sens GM Pierre Dorion said they are “working hard” to get a deal done. Pinto doesn’t have a lot of leverage on his side. He’s not offer sheet eligible and didn’t have arbitration rights.
It’s believed that some teams were in contact with Pinto’s agent Lewis Gross to see what money and term Pinto is looking for. It’s believed that Gross told those teams to call Dorion if they were interested in trading for him. The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers have kicked tires. It’s unlikely the Senators would trade him.
The Senators only have $900,000 in salary cap space. The Flyers signed Morgan Frost to a two-year deal at $2.1 million per and there are indications that Pinto is looking for more than that.
The Senators have another unsigned RFA in Egor Sokolov.
Flames GM says it’s tough to get contracts done as quickly as you’d like
Sportsnet: Calgary Flames GM Craig Conroy what asked about the difficulty of having so many balls in the air heading into the season.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Ryan Leslie: “Not going to ask you about individual players because you’ve spoken about that, but it seems like there are a lot of balls in the air. Is that difficult as a first-year GM to manage when you have plan A, B, C, D?
Conroy: “You know I think the one thing, it’s like when you have a disappointing year and expectations were high and all of a sudden it didn’t go the way you’d like. And hey, as a player, I know you have decisions with one year left on contract, guys can make up their minds.
You know obviously, we love the players. We want to get everybody signed but with that said we also have to do what’s best for the team.
So I think it’s fun, we’re getting back together. Seeing the guys all at the golf tournament the other day and at the locker room. I think it’s gonna, gonna, we’re gonna get some more answers here down the stretch.
But it is a little, obviously, you’d like to have more things done but again, with the way the caps been over the last few years, it’s tough to get some deals done as quickly as you’d like.”