If Bruins Want Shane Pinto, Price Will Be High

Could the Boston Bruins get in on the potential NHL trade sweepstakes for Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto?

According to a trusted NHL source, NHL teams are inquiring about the cost of the 22-year-old pivot on the NHL trade market.

“Teams have been starting to wonder what Pierre’s [Senators general manager Pierre Dorion] going to do there,” the source told Boston Hockey Now on Wednesday night. “I would expect the Bruins to be one of those teams given their present and future center situation.”

That NHL trade speculation increased after a Monday report from Bruce Garrioch in the Ottawa Sun said the Senators, Shane Pinto, and his agent Lewis Gross (Jeremy Swayman’s agent), ‘have a significant gap to bridge’ in their contract talks for the restricted free agent center.

From Garrioch:

‘Whether Pinto, 22, will be signed before the club’s annual charity golf tournament on Sept. 19 remains anybody’s guess. General manager Pierre Dorion has held talks with his New York-based agent, Lewis Gross, but they haven’t led to a contract. The sense is the two sides have a significant gap to bridge. Both sides want to get something done so that Pinto is in camp, but the reality is he doesn’t have a lot of leverage, and it’s important for him to be there when players report for medicals.’

Shane Pinto is coming out of a three-year, $2.7 million contract with a $925,000 salary cap hit. The 6-foot-2, 192-pound center was drafted by the Senators in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. In his first full season in the NHL, Pinto emerged as the Senators’ third-line center last season with 20 goals and 15 assists in 82 games. So far, Pinto has 21 goals and 21 assists in 92 NHL games.

According to the aforementioned source, the Senators would be willing to listen to NHL trade offers for the former University of North Dakota star and Franklin Square, New York native because they believe 21-year-old prospect and 2020 first-round pick (28th overall) Ridly Greig could be as good as or better than Pinto. However, the NHL trade cost will be high, and if the Bruins want Pinto, that could mean parting ways with top prospects Fabian Lysell and Johnny Beecher.

“Ottawa wants to make the playoffs, but they’re up against the cap, so we’re talking high-end prospects that could crack the roster this season,” the source told BHN. “That’s probably Fabian Lysell and Johnny Beecher.”