After a disappointing first-round loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs ended their Stanley Cup playoff hopes last week, a pair of Ottawa Senators are turning their attention to a new goal on Friday.
Centre Shane Pinto and defenceman Nik Matinpalo will begin their pursuit of gold medals on day one of the World Hockey Championships in Sweden and Denmark.
Pinto and Team USA will open Friday at 2:20 p.m. against the host Danes at Jyske Bank Boxen Arena.
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In 70 regular-season games with the Senators this season, Pinto had 21 goals and 37 points, which was probably a little shy of his expectations. But he also had less than half the power-play time he was given two years ago.
Pinto is about to enter the second half of his two-year contract at $3.75 million per season. From his perspective, rather than lock in long-term last summer, this was probably a bridge deal to potentially earn a larger contract in 2026.
But based on this season's stats, though Pinto’s value to the Senators is far more than just offence, his $3.75 million cap hit seems about right. Perhaps this tournament can be a confidence boost and a springboard to offensive improvements next season.
But ice time won't come easily at this tournament because the Americans are loaded with talent. They have 12 first-round NHL Draft picks, and more than 5,500 games of NHL experience.
Former Senator Joey Daccord will suit up in goal for Team USA, along with Jeremy Swayman, Linus Ullmark’s old running mate in Boston. Ullmark says he wanted to play for Sweden, especially since they’re one of the tourney co-hosts, but the team decided to go in another direction, choosing Jacob Markström, Samuel Ersson, and Arvid Söderblom.
Summer Breakups: Senators GM Steve Staios Prepares For Another Rebalancing ActThe Ottawa Senators held their seasonal exit meetings last Saturday, the final assignment for a fine young NHL club that took a huge step forward this season, forcing their way into the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
Meanwhile, Matinpalo and Team Finland will open the tournament in Sweden with the first game against Austria at 10:20 a.m. Friday at Avicii Arena. Like the U.S.A. opener, this one is likely to be a mismatch.
It’s been a whirlwind calendar year for Matinpalo, who, as recently as December, didn't really seem to be in Ottawa's NHL plans. Since then, he's become an NHL regular, got to play in the 4 Nations Face-off in February, and signed his first one-way NHL contract this week.
What a difference five months can make.
For you early birds, Canada will open on Saturday morning against Slovenia at 6:20 a.m. ET. The Canadians are stacked this year with big names, including Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.
Senators winger Drake Batherson trains with both of those superstars in Nova Scotia every summer. And after Batherson's uneven performance in round one of the playoffs, it would have been nice if he'd been able to have a chance to shake that off at this tournament and head into the summer on a positive note.
Here's how the tournament works (from IIHF.com):
The 16 teams are divided into two groups for the Preliminary Round, played in a single round-robin format.
The top four teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals, which will be played cross-over style: 1A vs. 4B, 2A vs. 3B, 1B vs. 4A, and 2B vs. 3A.
Since goal differential and goals scored play a key role in the tiebreaking process, this tournament frequently sees its fair share of blowouts, but it will also deliver some compelling matchups and rivalries, and some outstanding hockey over the next couple of weeks.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News-Ottawa
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