At the beginning of the 2021-22 season, if you had asked me to pick one Ottawa Senators player to watch over the next 82 games, I probably would have chosen Shane Pinto.
Coming off a strong NHL debut at the end of last season and a great training camp in 2021, Pinto was poised to play his first full season this year and hopefully earn himself a permanent spot in the top six. Now, it looks like he’s going to miss the entire season with a shoulder injury. It would be hard to overstate the impact of losing Pinto.