How good can Shane Pinto be?

[DylanSensFan]

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Yeah, I just noticed this as well, with regards to Time on Ice in the playoffs.
Pinto was #2, very close to being #1 and nearly 2 minutes more on average than #3 Tkachuk:

View attachment 1036671

I do think Pinto could easily be our #2 C, if they were to swing Cozens out to the wing.
Greig, in my opinion, could be a solid #3C.

When one is playing a lot of PK time, they tend to pick up a lot of minutes. Green was also lining him against the Leafs top line.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

IIHF - USA - FIN 22.05.2025 - 2025 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - Game Centre Play by play

IIHF - USA - FIN 22.05.2025 - 2025 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - Game Centre Play by play

www.iihf.com

 

[aragorn]

Pinto is awesome, he is quickly becoming a very good 200' player. Hopefully, they can get him signed long term during the season as they got Greig done before he breaks out & will be worth a lot more ,

 

[JungleBeat]

Don’t think you’re winning with him on the 2nd line if you don’t have multiple stars on the team. Staple him in as the 3rd line C. Nothing more.

 

[Stutzlaaaa]

I mean he can be or 2nd line C and still be our shutdown guy and play top linr in the PK. It will just allow our 3rs to be more offensive. Plenty of team have their top guy play shutdown not a reason to plug him to 3rd line. Suzuki is the scoring and shutdown c for mtl as Kopitar is/was for LA before Danault arrival, Aho in carolina there is plenty of exemples in the league.

Pinto has the skill to be a a scoring C he just never focused on that cause he was already our best defensive forward at young age. With Stutzle emergence as good 2 way C . We would have 2 great Top 6 C who can play vs any Top line .

For sure we want him at 6x6 but I was discussing his play only. He is a better option moving foward as the 2C before Cozens.

 

[Ice-Tray]

I mean he can be or 2nd line C and still be our shutdown guy and play top linr in the PK. It will just allow our 3rs to be more offensive. Plenty of team have their top guy play shutdown not a reason to plug him to 3rd line. Suzuki is the scoring and shutdown c for mtl as Kopitar is/was for LA before Danault arrival, Aho in carolina there is plenty of exemples in the league.

Pinto has the skill to be a a scoring C he just never focused on that cause he was already our best defensive forward at young age. With Stutzle emergence as good 2 way C . We would have 2 great Top 6 C who can play vs any Top line .

For sure we want him at 6x6 but I was discussing his play only. He is a better option moving foward as the 2C before Cozens.

He’s not a better option at 2C right now than Cozens, or Norris was for that matter, but he can fill in when needed which is great. He’s actually great right where he is at the moment.

We have the luxury of having depth at centre, which is better than trying to have your best centres play shutdown roles like some of the teams you mentioned because they don’t have someone better at the job. Stutzle and Cozens can fill different roles on the team.

Pinto is not really a playmaker, and he’s not really a scoring centre either. I don’t think we know quite what he is right now, but if he can score 20 goals, shut down the oppositions top players, play 1st PK and 2nd PP occasionally, all while centreing a high quality checking line, well that’s a really important peice to have right there.

I’d prefer that Pinto keeps developing into the role he has right now with Greig and Amadio, and we let Cozens do his thing with whatever we can do with the second line. If he has untapped offensive potential, he’ll find ways to score where he is.