One thing that every team tries to accomplish is having some truly elite players down the middle of the ice. For the Ottawa Senators, it appears that the centre position is going to be the least of their concerns for many years.
With the emergence of Tim Stutzle as a superstar, acquiring Dylan Cozens as the second-line centre, and having Shane Pinto being able to dominate a matchup against a superstar like Nathan MacKinnon, the Senators appear to be in great shape.
Shane Pinto Dominates Matchup Against Nathan MacKinnon
To give credit where it is due, MacKinnon has been unbelievable this season. On pace to smash his already ridiculous career-high’s, MacKinnon is one of the scariest matchups to face in the entire league. For Pinto, it was just another Wednesday night on home ice. Looking at Pinto’s stats, everything about them is impressive except for the actual scoresheet. Despite getting no points in the 5-2 victory, Pinto played 22:19, with 20:03 coming at even strength.
Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto reacts after scoring a goal. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Pinto shone in many places, but the offensive zone wasn’t one of them. He only had one shot attempt, no scoring chances, and that is it. Not necessarily the statline you want to see.
On the flip side, as Sens Talk pointed out on X, over 18 minutes of his playing time was against MacKinnon.
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Nathan MacKinnon finished the night as a -3 plus/minus, and did not record a shot. He had an expected goals-for percentage of 40.1%, his third-worst of the season, and was held off the scoreboard.
During the last two playoff runs for the Florida Panthers, Aleksander Barkov has been given so much praise, and rightfully so, for this kind of play. Pinto is showing he can play that way, too.
Excellent Seasons from Stutzle & Cozens Lead Way
The Senators’ top two centres heading into the season were undoubtedly Stutzle and Cozens. Stutzle pushed a true superstar-calibre in 2022-23, and we haven’t seen him play a full season quite to that level since, and for Cozens, the fit looked really good, but he hadn’t cracked the 50-point mark in either of the last two seasons, and wasn’t a guarantee to be an elite second-line center.
Luckily for the Senators, things have worked out pretty well thus far with these top two centres not having missed a game yet. That is refreshing.
So far this season, Stutzle has looked like he has taken a step forward, which was exactly what people were looking for. He has been the most dominant forward on the ice every time he takes a shift, scoring at over a point-per-game pace, and playing with more swagger than ever before.
Cozens has been streaky at times, but only on the scoresheet. He has been one of the best forecheckers the Senators have, and with the recent success of the line featuring Cozens in between Brady Tkachuk and Ridly Greig, his play has never been better.
The Senators have just about everything you could ask for out of their top three centres, and considering the fact that they are all signed for less than $24 million for at least the next four seasons after this one, the Senators are well taken care of in that position.
Some stick taps have to be given to the carousel of fourth-line centres they have iced this season, too. The list is too long to have included any as a staple or core piece, but the likes of Lars Eller and Stephen Halliday have done a fantastic job rounding out the centre spot on all four lines.
Advanced stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and MoneyPuck
