NHL suspends Ottawa Senators RFA Shane Pinto 41 games for sports betting-related activity

The NHL suspended Ottawa Senators restricted free agent forward Shane Pinto for 41 games on Thursday for sports betting-related activity, the first suspension for gambling in hockey in 75 years. The historic ban also marks one of hockey’s lengthiest suspensions for off-ice conduct.

In a statement, the NHL said the league’s “investigation found no evidence that Pinto made any wagers on NHL games.” The NHL also said it now considers the matter closed, and absent new information, will have no further comment on the situation.

Sources told Daily Faceoff that the league’s investigation centered around a sweep of gambling partners that revealed a Pinto connection to a third-party bettor.

“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,” Pinto said in a statement released by the Senators. “I take full responsibility for my actions and look forward to getting back on the ice with my team.”

The NHL Players’ Association says Shane Pinto will not be appealing the 41-game suspension. The resolution was negotiated between all parties.

Pinto, 22, remains unsigned by Ottawa since a summer-long negotiating squabble left him without a deal through the start of the regular season. The Senators were believed to have been close to agreeing to terms with Pinto on a $2.2 million contract in recent weeks before the organization got wind of a league investigation.

In a statement, the Senators stood by Pinto on Thursday and said in part: “Shane is a valued member of our hockey club; an engaging, intelligent young man who made poor decisions that have resulted in a suspension by the NHL. We know he is remorseful for his mistakes.” The Senators said that they “fully support” the NHL’s rules on gambling, remain committed to Shane and will do whatever is necessary to “provide him support to address his issues.”

“When the time is right and with the league’s blessing, we will welcome him back to the organization and embrace him as one of our own,” the Senators statement said.

Pinto’s suspension is expected to retroactively begin with Ottawa’s first game of the season, making him first eligible to return to the lineup on Jan. 21, 2024 in Philadelphia. The Sens (3-3-0) have little incentive to sign him to a contract before then. While that may not result in a formal forfeiture of salary to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund, it will undoubtedly result in a loss of income for Pinto.

There has been an incredible influx in sports betting since 2018 when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned in a watershed moment that has resulted in the legalization of sports gambling in 35 U.S. states and subsequently across Canada.

The NHL, its 32 clubs and even some of its players have all gotten in on the horde of cash that has infiltrated the sports world. The NHL quickly established sports betting partnerships with BetMGM, FanDuel, PointsBet, Betway, William Hill and Bally’s, to name a few. Most teams have at least one betting partner, sometimes more, while a few teams have sports betting terminals or parlors located inside their arenas. Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Wayne Gretzky have all promoted sportsbooks, at least until the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario moved to ban the use of athletes in gambling advertising in the province.

The NBA and MLB have not suspended any players since the explosion of sports betting in 2018. But the NFL has severely cracked down on sports betting. All team personnel are prohibited from wagering on any sport. At least 10 NFL players have been suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy in 2023 alone and half of them have been cut by their teams as a result.

With such easy access to sportsbooks, the NFL has clearly defined its policy. Any player betting on football will receive an indefinite suspension with a one-year minimum. If you bet on your own team, it’s a two-year minimum suspension. If you’re caught fixing or attempting to fix a result, it is a lifetime ban. Betting on other sports results in a two-game suspension for the first offense and six games for a second violation. Additionally, betting through a third party or proxy will result in a one-year minimum suspension. Players may not also wager on anything while in a team facility, as wagering history, timing and access to confidential information is also investigated.

Hockey accounts for a small single-digit percentage of sportsbook handles, but the NHL has safeguards in place to protect the integrity of the game. One of their main partners, Sportradar, provides what is known as “integrity services” using a data network to monitor betting lines for anomalies. As a result of their sports betting partnerships, the NHL may also have access to customer databases and records to regularly integrity sweep for names of players and employees.

In 2021, the NHL utilized those partners to help investigate now-Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane for gambling after his estranged wife, Anna Kane, accused him on Instagram of betting on hockey. The NHL used Sportradar, independent firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP and NHL Security to conduct the investigation and found “no evidence to corroborate Ms. Kane’s accusations that Mr. Kane bet or otherwise participated in gambling on NHL games.”

The NHL previously suspended Babe Pratt, Billy Taylor and Don Gallinger in the late 1940s for gambling on hockey. Current Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet took a two-year leave of absence, a de facto suspension, from 2006 to 2008 for his involvement in a nationwide sports gambling ring based in New Jersey – but he was never formally suspended by the league. It was not immediately clear on Wednesday the depth of the NHL’s investigation into Pinto.

Fitting Pinto into the salary cap picture later in the season will be easier for Ottawa. The NHL has a unique cap calculation for RFAs signed after the start of the season that typically comes with a larger salary cap hit, but only if there is signing bonus money involved. If Pinto were to sign a straight-forward base salary deal in January, the Sens would only be hit with a pro-rated charge for the remainder of an all-important season that is already off to a shaky start.