11:35 a.m.: The NHL has officially announced Pinto’s suspension. The Senators issued a statement on the matter, including in it a statement from Pinto himself which reads:
I want to apologize to the National Hockey League, the Ottawa Senators, my teammates, the fans and city of Ottawa and most importantly my family. I take full responsibility for my actions and look forward to getting back on the ice with my team.
10:43 a.m.: Contrary to expectation, Pinto’s 41-game suspension has been applied retroactively to the Senators’ first game of the season, Friedman reports. That means the clock has already begun on his 41-game absence, and he does not need to sign a contract with Ottawa to begin serving the suspension. That means he will be eligible to return for Ottawa’s 42nd game of the season, a January 21 contest against the Flyers – assuming he’s signed to a contract by then. Coincidentally, Pinto will be eligible to play this season even if he does not sign a contract before the normal December 1 signing deadline for RFAs, says Friedman.
10:12 a.m.: According to reports from TSN’s Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun, Ottawa Senators restricted free agent center Shane Pinto is set to be suspended by the NHL “for activities related to sports wagering.” The suspension could be up to 41 games in length, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman later confirmed the 41-game penalty.
The clock on a suspension cannot start until Pinto is under contract and on the active roster. Garrioch adds that because of the looming suspension, the Senators have ended contract negotiations and “rescinded all previous offers.” That means Pinto will have to sign his qualifying offer – a one-year, $874,125 deal – to begin serving the suspension.
Friedman reports the league has not accused Pinto of wagering on NHL games but that a March 2022 memo from the league states that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is authorized to:
Discipline individuals determined to have engaged in improper gambling activities in any or all of the following respects: expulsion or suspension [for] a definite or indefinite period; cancelling any contract that such individual may have; and/or by imposing a fine. The League will act swiftly and aggressively in penalizing any League or Club personnel determined to have engaged in acts in violation of the NHL Gambling Policy.
An investigation into Pinto’s behavior began over the summer but did not intensify until the past few weeks when a hearing was held with the league, Friedman says. He also believes that Pinto has not asked for a trade despite the ongoing contract negotiations because “he appreciates the organization’s secrecy about the investigation.”
This is the first online sports gambling-related suspension in NHL history. Typically, players suspended without pay for off-ice conduct are not counted against the salary cap – meaning Pinto’s likely prorated $874,125 cap hit for this season won’t factor in until after the suspension has been served.
Ottawa selected Pinto, 22, with the 32nd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. He’s coming off a 2022-23 campaign in which he played in all 82 games, far eclipsing his previous career-high of 12, and notched 20 goals and 15 assists for 35 points. Those totals came in some heavy minutes – averaging nearly 16 minutes per game with normal second-line center Joshua Norris missing nearly all of 2022-23 with a shoulder injury. Pinto has also dealt with a significant shoulder injury during his development, which sidelined him for nearly all of 2021-22.
Pinto was expected to play a major depth scoring role on the team this season, anchoring their third line with the help of offseason additions Dominik Kubalík or Vladimir Tarasenko. Yet again, however, the Senators have deviated from expectations early on in the season, failing to get an agreement with Pinto due to cap constraints and now involuntarily being without his services. After losing 6-4 to the division-rival Sabres on Tuesday, the Senators are 3-3-0 through six games and sit sixth in the Atlantic Division.
If Pinto signs his qualifying offer later today before the Senators’ game against the Islanders, the earliest he would be eligible to make his season debut is February 10, 2024, against Toronto. If a qualifying offer signing comes tomorrow, Pinto would need to wait until February 13 against Columbus.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
This is like getting caught stealing boxes on your day off. If i was him, id be betting against the Sens every single game.
As the saying goes, the devils playground is an idle mind. Or in this case, an idle hockey player.
Can the Sens even pay this guy a 1 year league minimum salary?
How else is he going to bet on himself? ;)
@fljay73 – He’s an RFA, who is really the new-style UFA. The only way you can get dealt somewhere you want is to be so valuable that the team is pinned in the corner and can’t do anything but cave to the player’s demands. Unfortunately, for Pinto, he’s not in that rarefied air. Just “ordering” him to take a league minimum offer, is wasted effort.
The way the presence of sports gambling has entered every corner of sports the last few years is frankly disturbing. A lot of these big money gambling sites started as sketchy online sports books, and how they got so deep in bed with sports media and advertising is a mystery to me. It reeks.
How it got so deep in bed with everyone? $$$$$. Hell, the gambling industry sponsors whole LEAGUES; the second tier British soccer league is officially the “Sky Bet Championship.” Every sports article on the website of the local daily newspaper is riddled with sports betting ads.
One wonders if this is what’s held up a signing for this long. We may all owe the Sens an apology for sneering at their cap management.
And most of these big American gambling sites lose money hand-over-fist and are just praying to be the last man standing once the competition can no longer operate at these losses. That’s when the real profit will kick in & you will never get gambling out of sports ever again. I mean, these commercials are practically begging you to throw money away with these crooks during every commercial break. It is super gross & preys on those who can least afford it.
This looks like the NHL has rubber rules. If you don’t like the way Gumby turned out, reshape him into an ashtray.
I guess this changes my question for the mailbag
So he didn’t bet on NHL games
But the NHL can take money from betting websites
Other past and present NHL stars can be spokesmen for these websites
I just don’t get it! Maybe if they actually said what he did.
The hypocrisy in the sports industry now is insane. All these leagues are making insane money off gambling sites. Even ESPN sponsors a SportsBook now. It would be like Mothers Against Drunk Driving having events sponsored by Miller Lite. If it isn’t NHL or even hockey related it’s no one’s business.
Have to agree.
If he wasn’t betting on his game or the team he plays for I don’t see the problem here.
+1, honestly. How many other perfectly legal activities get NHL players suspended for half a season?
Pinto made a brain dead move and he knew the rules, Nice move pretty boy, Now you’re in a deeper hole.
A hold-out ha to make money some how! LOL
Betting on sports is officially worse than intentionally stomping on someone’s achilles.
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Well that solves his contract issue and cap room problem.
A gambling scandal is basically the only thing that can ruin a successful sports league and, therefore, leagues make rules that prohibit their very well paid players from gambling to avoid even the hint of such a scandal.
Not sure why people refuse to understand this.
Yeah, well, then the leagues shouldn’t themselves be visibly and vocally in bed with the gambling industry. Should they?
Not sure why anyone would decline to understand *that*.