Shane Pinto lands new contrat with promise of much bigger deal

The Ottawa Senators signed restricted free agent Shane Pinto to a one-year, $775,000 contract on Friday. This is the league minimum for this season.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, “there is work being done on a longer-term deal.”

A deal was expected as Pinto becomes eligible to return on Sunday from his 41-game suspension for violating the league’s gambling rules. Last week, Senators interim head coach Jacques Martin confirmed Pinto will play against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon upon becoming eligible. When the announcement was first made on his ban, it was reported that team had rescinded all previous contract offers to Pinto, who wasn’t likely to sign with the Sens until he has served his suspension in January. 

Back in September, reports had emerged that Pinto was upset with a low one-year offer and is allegedly seeking around $2.5 million. However, due to his suspension and trouble cause to the Senators, he accepted this lower, league minimum offer maybe in order to prove his worth and therefore get that long-term deal Friedman has mentioned. 

At the start of the 2023-24 season, the NHL announced the suspension to Pinto for “activities related to sports wagering”, though further investigation found no evidence that Pinto made any wagers on NHL games. Unsigned at the time of the ban announcement, Pinto had yet to play a game for Ottawa.

Last week, Pinto admitted he was caught off-guard by the suspension, but sure sounded like he learned his lesson.

“It broke my heart,” Pinto said. “Honestly, I care about this game so much. I put so much time and effort into it and just to kind of get it taken away from you for that long, it’s just tough to hear. You’re in shock at first.”

In 82 contests last season, his first full campaign in the NHL, Pinto recorded 20 goals and tallied 35 points. He is looking for more now that he is back in action.

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