Senators Injury News Raises Bigger Question for Ottawa

There are some things you don't want to see during training camp. One is a player suddenly missing from practice when nobody seems quite sure why. That's what happened Thursday with the Ottawa Senators, and this time there are two names to watch.

Shane Pinto's Absence Is the One Ottawa Will Watch Closely

The first is Shane Pinto. The 25-year-old centre missed Thursday's practice with what is being described as an undisclosed injury, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. That caught my attention because this wasn't a player who had been easing in and out of camp. Thursday was the first practice Pinto had missed.

Nobody seems to know how serious the injury is yet, and there's no point pretending otherwise. An undisclosed injury could be minor. But Pinto is an important part of Ottawa's forward group, and the Senators don't have the luxury of losing useful centres for long.

Pinto quietly put together a pretty good season in 2025-26, scoring 23 goals and 46 points in 72 games. He also had 157 shots, 94 hits and 50 blocked shots. That's a pretty useful package. He's not just filling a spot down the middle. He brings some offence and some of the harder parts of the game, too.

So the question isn't whether Ottawa should panic. It shouldn't. The question is simply how long Pinto will be out.

Jorian Donovan's Timing Isn't Great for His Chances

The other injury involves Jorian Donovan, a 22-year-old defenceman who also missed Thursday's practice with an undisclosed injury. Donovan was already facing an uphill battle to make the Senators, although injuries elsewhere on the blue line could have given him an opportunity. With the injury, that opportunity may now have disappeared, at least temporarily.

If Donovan is healthy, the likely destination is Belleville in the American Hockey League. That's not a bad thing for a young defenceman still trying to establish himself. But getting hurt at this stage of camp certainly doesn't help.

So now there are two names on the Senators' injury watch.

For Donovan, the timing is unfortunate. For Pinto, Ottawa will be watching much more closely. Training camp is supposed to be about figuring out who will play where. The Senators don't need injuries making those decisions for them.