Picking up the Pieces After A Tough 48 Hours

Well, there is our clarity.

After it was reported that we would get some news on the Shane Pinto impasse, the NHL announced a 41-game suspension for the restricted free agent centre for “activities relating to sports wagering.”

It is a staggering turn of events.

The NHL levied one of the most significant suspensions in league history for off-ice conduct.

In a statement, the NHL revealed that its “investigation found no evidence that Pinto made any wagers on NHL games.”

The lack of transparency is painful. It is awful for the fans and customers who want some kind of explanation for why a player, who reportedly did not bet on hockey, was handed such a hefty punishment. Similarly, for the other players and organizations around the league, the veil of secrecy does not help them here either. Thanks to the prominence and accessibility of sports gambling, it is fair to assume that sports betting is commonplace. Other NHLers are certainly doing it and if there is an opportunity to use this Pinto situation as an example of what not to do, this can be a teachable moment for others around the league regarding what is and is not permissible.

Complicating matters is the league’s involvement and willingness to take whatever cash legalized sports betting companies throw at them. Hell, the Senators became the first NHL team to use a gambling-related company, Bet99, as their helmet sponsor for the 2021-22 season.

The NHL’s CBA only outlines that gambling on hockey is not permitted, which creates a gray area for what constitutes an offence. When the league emphasizes that there is no evidence that Shane Pinto did not gamble on hockey, and the CBA does not overtly describe what other acts or conduct are not permitted, how can the league punish him accordingly?

It is this lack of transparency that is challenging and if anything, helps contribute to this feeling of, “Well, you say you didn’t find any evidence that Pinto bet on hockey, but the harsh punishment kind of makes us believe that you think he may have.”

The lack of details is frustrating, but it is all we can expect for the immediate future. The reason for that is the 41-game suspension was a negotiated settlement between the NHLPA and the NHL. As part of this settlement, confidentiality clauses were inevitably negotiated to protect the player’s interests. As part of the agreement, Pinto foregoes the right to appeal the decision.

As much as it feels incongruent to see the league throw the book at a player for a gambling-related offence when the league is beholden to the revenue generated by these gambling companies, for the PA to arrive at a 41-game suspension means something significant had to have occurred.

One of the theories being circulated is that the situation could hinge on the involvement of a third party having access to Pinto’s gambling account.

From TSN’s Darren Dreger during Thursday night’s ‘Insider Trading’ segment:

“Well, the fact that it was flagged by an NHL partner because of recent use on the Shane Pinto account. And, that can come in a variety of forms including IP addresses that are attached to an account such as this. So, it goes beyond being specific to how he broke the rule. The NHL did determine, of course, that Shane Pinto did not specifically bet on NHL games, but there is reason to believe that there might be another party involved who might have had access to Shane Pinto’s account. They’ve gone through the process. It was very tricky. It was an intricate investigation and while they say that he did not bet on NHL games, there was improper gambling activity leading to the 41-game suspension.”

The severity of the suspension is largely based on the idea that it could have been worse. As Elliotte Friedman articulated during his ‘32 Thoughts Podcast’ episode dedicated to the Pinto coverage, commissioner Gary Bettman “is authorized to discipline individuals in any or all of the following respects: expulsion or suspension for a definite or indefinite period; cancelling any contract that such an individual may have; or by imposing a fine.”

In a sports landscape where gambling has become so prominent, Friedman believes leagues will continue to push strict punitive disciplines because there is so much gray area.

“Leagues are going to go harder now because the line has been blurred so much. If there is anything that is going to make them nervous, they are going to act because they feel in some way that it’s really important to try to enforce whatever you have to enforce much more strongly now because there’s so much gambling money now in the sport.”

So, now Pinto waits.

His negotiated settlement carried a retroactive date to the beginning of the season, meaning that once Pinto signs a contract, the earliest he will be able to return to the Senators is January. It feels safe to assume that it will be longer because it will take him time for him to get into game shape.

If there is a silver lining, the Pinto news affords general manager Pierre Dorion time to make decisions on his lineup construction. Assuming of course, that he will continue to serve in his role until the Pinto contract is done. The general manager was deservedly taking heat for his cap mismanagement and the performance of an underperforming team, but Pinto’s ineligibility removes the pressure of having to clear salary to get the young centre onto the roster.

One of the more interesting notes from Thursday’s news came from Pierre LeBrun who indicated that the league’s investigation into Pinto began early last summer.

“The league investigation, yes, started in the early summer,” explained LeBrun, “But, the league did not notify the Ottawa Senators of this investigation until closer to training camp. So, these things just happen to be separate matters at that time.”

Not only did the investigation not really impact the Pinto negotiations until recent weeks, the Senators were in the dark until training camp. Imagine the team traded Pinto to one of their peers or the team actually created space by moving an asset off the parent roster to fit his salary in only for the league to turn around at the investigation’s conclusion and say, “Oh yeah, about that, Pinto can’t play.”

I understand not wanting to compromise an investigation or waiting for its results before alerting a club, but when organizations are making multi-year and multi-million dollar strategic decisions during a critical time of the year, but it is bizarre that there are no mechanisms available to the potentially affected parties in this kind of situation.

So, what happens next?

For Pinto, it is an embarrassing blow, but it is one that he can recover from.

As embarrassing as Bruce Garrioch’s ridiculously over-the-top character assassination of Pinto was during the second intermission of Thursday’s game, Pinto’s a 22 year old who made some undisclosed gambling mistake that did not involve betting on hockey. Burying a kid and espousing this belief that his career could be in jeopardy is high comedy.

I certainly do not want to diminish the impact of gambling. Anything that has addictive properties can be absolutely devastating and people have had their lives decimated by the negative complications of it. In saying that, there are a dozens other really shitty things that a professional athlete can do that can negatively impact his health, his relationship with teammates, family, friends and his professional career.

He does not have some fatal character flaw. He made a critical error in judgement. This is a teachable moment that a young player (and his teammates and peers) can learn from.

Fortunately, the Senators seem to agree with me.

One of the best things to come out of the Pinto news was the organization’s official press release.

“We were made aware of the National Hockey League investigation into this matter and additional information was made available to the club upon the completion of the league’s investigation yesterday.

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 National Hockey League. We know he is remorseful for his mistakes.

The Ottawa Senators fully support the NHL’s rules on gambling. While saddened to learn of this issue, the entire organization remains committed to Shane and will work together to do what is necessary to help provide the support to allow him to address his issues and become a strong contributor to our community.

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.”

It is encouraging that the relationship between the Senators and Pinto appears to still be strong given the circumstances. Elliotte Friedman touched upon that in that aforementioned ‘32 Thoughts Podcast’ episode.

“I believe and I don’t have confirmation on this, but one of the things that I have heard on this is that Pinto has not asked for a trade at any point. First of all, he wanted to stay in Ottawa, but secondly, as this progressed, he was appreciative of the fact that it didn’t get out. I know I looked into it and I’m sure I’m not the only reporter and it was kept really quiet. As a result, I think Pinto is appreciative of that. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he signs a quick contract at a lower number – a number that helps Ottawa because they won’t have to do much to squeeze it in, if anything. And, his thank you to them will be, ‘You kept it quiet while this was going on, so I’m coming in to sign at a lower number.’ Obviously, now that this news has gotten out, I think it changes peoples’ perception of what happened at the end. For a long time, this was not a factor. I think it only became a factor in the last couple of weeks, and as a result, it changed the dynamic to a point where Ottawa wasn’t going to sign him. But, I do think Pinto was appreciative that Ottawa was quiet about it. They could have really squeezed him or done a whisper campaign against him and they did none of that.”

It is disappointing that Pinto will miss a half a season’s worth of development, but it’s not like the team had cleared any cap space to bring him into the fold. He was missing games worth of development regardless of the suspension and it should be acknowledged that his suspension certainly does not excuse Dorion for his cap mismanagement. It merely pushes the issue further down the road when the Senators’ cap crunch can be alleviated.

It should happen immediately.

After losing Erik Brannstrom to a horrific concussion, the Senators also announced that Thomas Chabot suffered a fractured hand while blocking a shot in Thursday night’s effort. The defenceman will miss the next four to six weeks and was placed on the LTIR.

With Chabot on the LTIR, the organization is now allowed to exceed the salary cap ceiling by the cost of Chabot’s cap hit ($8 million AAV) minus the team’s available cap space. It creates approximately $7.95 million in cap room which allowed the team to recall Nikolas Matinpalo and Tyler Kleven for tonight’s game in Pittsburgh.

Hockeyviz provides excellent visuals of Chabot’s isolated impact at five-on-five.

The Senators do appear to be giving up a surplus of shots from where Chabot has defended this season. Being asked to play his off-side is an adjustment and perhaps there is something to be said about a player who has logged a ton of big minutes playing on bad defensive teams with underwhelming partners. Without accountability and the support from the forwards, it is easy to wonder whether bad habits and tendencies have crept into Chabot’s game or whether a fresh set of eyes and voice could help eliminate some of the blemishes in his game.

Despite the criticisms and concerns for Chabot’s defensive play, it is hard to downplay just how important he is to Ottawa’s offence and puck movement. The Senators are absolutely going to miss his presence in the lineup and without three of their top five defencemen, it puts the organization in an uncomfortable position where it has to rely on Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker to play top-four minutes.

It is a sobering thought for such an early stage of the schedule. October was supposed to be a soft month with an easy schedule. After four games and a 3-1-0 record, the vibes were positive and it felt like this team had an opportunity to carry that momentum into the more challenging stretches.

That momentum has dissipated.

Bad starts have crippled this team’s postseason chances and it is beginning to feel like deja vu. The Senators are in danger of finishing the month two games under .500. A loss today would be devastating. It may even put the jobs of Pierre Dorion and D.J. Smith in jeopardy.