The NHL handed out its first major gambling-related suspension on Thursday morning. And… it clarifies some of the situation in Ottawa and also should have a few media members in that market apologizing to the Sens’ front office.
Senators RFA center Shane Pinto has reportedly been suspended 41 games by the NHL for gambling. Here’s the fascinating part, though: Friedman’s second paragraph in the story below begins with: “Critically, the league did not accuse of Pinto of wagering on NHL games.” So he didn’t bet on NHL games… but he bet on something that was worthy of a half-season suspension.
Here’s where this gets extra interesting: Shane Pinto is the lone outstanding unsigned restricted free agent in the NHL. He’s a good player, and a lot of people were giving Ottawa’s front office the business for not getting a deal done with Pinto in light of their second-line center, Josh Norris, having shoulder issues that took him off the ice for an extended period of time during the preseason. But Frank Seravalli is the Sens got wind of the NHL’s investigation in the last couple weeks and broke off negotiations because of it.
There’s still a lot unknown about what specifically Shane Pinto is accused of gambling on, where and how and how — if it wasn’t NHL games — that factors into the half-season suspension. I’ll update this as we know more.
