Senators notebook: Claude Giroux’s ‘difficult’ negotiations, Shane Pinto contract, more

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OTTAWA — Claude Giroux admits he wasn’t the most fun person to be around last week.

This time last week, a “gap” lingered between Giroux and the Ottawa Senators on a contract extension. Talks had been ongoing for weeks. Even team owner Michael Andlauer stepped in alongside GM Steve Staios when they met with Giroux’s agent Pat Brisson in Buffalo. The Senators were still waiting to hear back from Giroux’s camp on Friday after the opening night of this year’s NHL Draft. But it appeared Giroux had more desire to be in Ottawa than the other way around, a sentiment shared by The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun on TSN.

But eventually, a deal was done. Both sides mercifully crossed the finish line together, and Giroux can now worry about preparing for one more season in Senators colours.

“When it was done, it was definitely a relief,” Giroux said.

Both the Senators and Giroux are thrilled that negotiations are finally over. Staios said Tuesday he experienced “one of the most challenging starts” to a negotiation in his managerial career, balancing the act of trying to be fair to the player while maintaining salary cap flexibility. Giroux also expressed that contract negotiations were “unpleasant.”

“It was the first time in my career that negotiations were difficult,” Giroux said. “No one really likes to negotiate, but it’s part of the business. At the end of the day, we were able to find a way to get it done.”

Giroux says he was fine with a one-year contract, and that length was mentioned early in the negotiating process. It wasn’t a “deal-breaker.” Salary and performance bonuses proved trickier to nail down. And as much as the 37-year-old enjoyed his time in Ottawa, he was also preparing for the likelihood of testing the free agent market on July 1.

“When you go to free agency, you have to look at your options,” Giroux said. “That’s just life. But every time that me and my family talked about it, it always came down (to the fact) that we like it here. We like the fans. I love my teammates. We just like everything about (Ottawa).”

Giroux also wants to see this evolution of the Ottawa Senators through. The Senators broke an eight-year playoff drought this spring and their nucleus continues to take steps forward. Both Staios and head coach Travis Green expect their players to get better for next season.

“I wouldn’t sign here if I didn’t think they could do that,” Giroux said. “I trust and believe in my teammates a lot. It’s guys that I want to go to battle with. Guys I want to be around every day with. They chirp me every day. But just coming to the rink is a lot of fun. For me, that was a big (part of my) decision. You come to the rink every day and you’re not enjoying yourself; it’s not fun. Since I signed here, I didn’t feel like (it was) a job once. And I don’t think it will.”

One important question that surrounds Giroux now is his fit in the Sens’ lineup. He made a home for himself last season with Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle on the top line. But can he keep up with those two players as he gets older? Is his fit on a lower line on the Sens’ depth chart? That’s on Giroux to figure out, and he feels he can influence that with his play.

“You get the ice time you deserve,” Giroux said. “If you put in the work and you play the right way and you play hard, you’re going to play. It’s as simple as that. I have a lot of confidence in myself that I know what I have to do to earn that ice time to be able to help the team. Whatever role I have, it’s going to come down to how I play.”

Centre Shane Pinto was eligible for an extension as of Tuesday. (Marc DesRosiers / Imagn Images)

What does a Shane Pinto contract extension look like?

It appears the bulk of Ottawa’s offseason work is behind them, if Staios’ press conference on Tuesday was any indication. But there’s a significant item on Staios’ summer list: negotiating a contract extension for an integral young centre for Ottawa’s core.

Centre Shane Pinto was eligible for an extension as of Tuesday. The 24-year-old will be a restricted free agent next summer. Staios said negotiations with Pinto should begin “soon.” Two years ago, the Senators announced a two-year, $7.5 million contract for Pinto. The young centre is now coming off a season where he established career highs in goals (21) and points (37) this past year while establishing himself in a checking line role and as a penalty killer. And whenever he feels like he wants to get better, he checks in with older players such as Giroux.

“Too many times,” Giroux joked when asked about how often Pinto goes to him for advice. “We talk a lot about little details. It’s fun to be around young players that want to learn. He always asks me about faceoffs. Every day, he’s just trying to find a way to better himself. He’s an ultimate team guy, also. He didn’t play power play last year. He’d probably play on a lot of teams’ power plays. But his attitude is incredible and his time will come.”

Pinto’s Corsi rating dipped to 49.37 percent this past regular season, compared to his two previous seasons, where he was over 50 percent. But Pinto experienced some growing pains in Travis Green’s new system before gaining more trust in crucial situations in the Sens’ home stretch of their season.

“You want to be out there against the best,” Pinto said back in April. “I, luckily, have done that role, and I’ve tried to embrace it. (Ridly Greig and Michael Amadio) have made it easy for me as well.”

Pinto followed his regular season up with a goal and an assist in the postseason, even drawing tough assignments against the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top players in their first-round series. Then, he joined the United States at this year’s World Championship and won a gold medal.

“We feel like Shane’s a big part of this group,” Staios said on Tuesday.

It means it’s not too soon to wonder aloud about what a contract extension could look like for the young forward. Evolving-Hockey projects a four-year contract extension carrying a $5.78 million annual average value that would make him an unrestricted free agent by 2030, which would be more than palatable for the Senators. Stützle, Dylan Cozens and Jake Sanderson each have contracts that expire in the early 2030s, putting a potential extension in line with their expiration dates. Such an extension is also expected to be below market value as he continues his growth. If the Sens decide to go longer on a Pinto extension, Evolving-Hockey projects a six-year contract with a $6.10 million AAV.

“I’m a huge fan of Shane Pinto, the way he plays, the way he is off the ice,” Giroux said. “Incredible guy, and he works. It’s a guy you want to go to battle with. He’s just a player that does it all. His numbers haven’t shown how good he is offensively. He’s going to take that step. I don’t know when it’s going to be. But he’s got potential to be a top centreman.”

Depth additions

The Senators aren’t done adding players, particularly for depth and Belleville.

The Sens announced Wednesday that they’d signed a handful of players, including winger Arthur Kaliyev, Hayden Hodgson, Olle Lycksell, Hunter Shepard and Wyatt Bongiovanni to two-way deals. Ottawa also signed goaltender Jackson Parsons to an entry-level deal.

Kaliyev is a forward very familiar to Staios and Andlauer. He won an OHL championship with the Hamilton Bulldogs back in 2018 when Staios was general manager and Andlauer still owned the franchise.

Kaliyev was a 2019 second-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, scoring a career-high 14 goals during the 2021-22 campaign. Last fall, Kaliyev suffered a fractured clavicle in training camp. By January, he was placed on waivers; the New York Rangers eventually claimed him. Kaliyev scored three goals in 14 games before an upper-body injury ended his season in March.

Staios told the media on Tuesday that he’d add an AHL goaltender, and it looks like Shepard and Parsons could help fill that role. Shepard spent the last six years with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals’ minor-league affiliate and even played with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL. Shepard had a 23-11-4 record with the Bears last year in the regular season with a 2.80 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage. Parsons spent the last four seasons with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, registering a 37-12-3 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.24 goals-against average.

Lycksell was reported to be joining the Senators amidst their free-agent signings on Tuesday. Lycksell has one goal and 11 points in 45 career NHL games, but he’s likely destined for AHL minutes in Belleville. Lycksell scored 19 goals and 44 points in 43 games with the Philadelphia Phantoms this past year.

Hodgson and Bongiovanni will continue their time in the Senators’ organization. Hodgson scored five goals and 11 points in 43 games with Belleville, adding 156 penalty minutes. Hodgson even played two NHL games in Ottawa this past year. Bongiovanni scored 22 goals in 54 games last year with Belleville.

(Top photo of Claude Giroux: Darcy Finley / NHLI via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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