Ottawa Senators RFA Shane Pinto suspended 41 games for "sports gambling activity"

Shane Pinto has been served a 41-game suspension by the NHL for what many reporters are calling "sports gambling activity."

It is the first suspension of its kind in the NHL and comes at a time when the sport is only just starting to openly embrace sports wagering.

The NHL was clear that this suspension wasn't the result of Pinto placing bets on NHL contests, though they didn't elaborate any further on the infraction.

Pinto, 22, is a restricted free agent currently engaged in a contract standoff with the Senators, who lack the cap space necessary to meet his contract demands – only $46,000 in current cap space, according to the good people over at CapFriendly.

This adds an interesting wrinkle to Pinto's suspension, because apparently, the countdown only starts once he's under contract. Further complicating matters is the fact that if the Senators don't sign Pinto by December 1, he will be ineligible to play games this season period.

Re: Shane Pinto: NHLers must be under contract to serve suspensions. So, Pinto would have to accept his qualifying offer in order to begin serving his 41-game ban.

Bc it's an off-ice suspension, Pinto's contract would then not count against the cap until he's reinstated.

— Mike Stephens (@mikeystephens81) October 26, 2023

The Senators are 3-3-0 as of this writing, sixth-place in the Atlantic Division. Their next game is tonight at 7:30 local time against the New York Islanders.

Update: Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman has reported since this article was published that the suspension will begin to toll as of the first game of this season, contract or otherwise, and that the NHL is going to push back the December 1 deadline for this situation.