Shane Pinto eager to turn page after gambling suspension, lost Senators season — ‘I had to mature a lot’

LAS VEGAS — You have to hand it to Shane Pinto for one thing.

Usually, when you don’t want to address a topic, you do everything possible to avoid sitting down with a bunch of reporters. That’s why unsigned Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond backed out of the NHL European player media tour in Prague last month. He knew he’d be asked about his unresolved contract situation over and over again.

But Pinto, the young Ottawa Senators forward who was handed a 41-game suspension last season for violating league rules on sports gambling, represented his team at last week’s North American player media tour to talk about the upcoming season for both himself individually and the Sens.

The Sens have lots of talent, but they haven’t made the playoffs since losing in the Eastern Conference final in 2017. Pinto’s hope is that this will be the year things come together if they can avoid injuries and off-ice distractions.

“There’s been a lot of distractions for us obviously, but I think this year, this is the first year leading up to training camp where there’s no real annoyances or new ownership,” Pinto said. “I think now we’re steady. We have stability now. We have a new coach. I think we brought in the right pieces with what Steve (Staios) brought in, and I do have a good feeling about this year. I really do.

“Obviously, we have to have a good training camp. And I think that’s where it starts. I think it’s going to be a good year finally. Hopefully, we take the next step.”

The league and union didn’t offer up any details as to what exactly Pinto did to get suspended, but he confirmed on a recent Empty Netters podcast that he was flagged by one of the NHL’s partners for proxy betting. Pinto said on the podcast that while in Canada, he had friends in the United States place bets on his behalf on one of his accounts. When you’re not in the jurisdiction of an in-person or online sports book or casino, that’s generally illegal.

“I just didn’t know,” Pinto told a handful of reporters, including The Athletic, last week. “I just didn’t know better.”

Pinto, who was unsigned at the time the league was investigating the act, said he was blindsided when his agent called and informed him the league wanted to meet with him.

He decided to accept his punishment rather than appeal the decision to commissioner Gary Bettman.

“I had to mature a lot, to be honest with you,” Pinto said. “I think it was a blessing in disguise, in a sense. I think it taught me a lot about how much I love the game and how much I miss it and how much of a part of my life it is. It built a lot of character, too. I think when I was away from the team for those three months, obviously I had my family with me, but I had to stay motivated to try to be ready for when I came back, and I proved a lot to myself.

“I thought I did a good job when I came back. I got myself ready, and I’m happy with the way the year ended for me. But, yeah, it taught me a lot. Taught me not to take things for granted. It could be taken away from me pretty quickly.”

Pinto, 23, ultimately signed for the rest of last season, then scored nine goals and 27 points in 41 games to follow his 20-goal, 35-point rookie year. In July, he re-upped for two years at a $3.75 million average annual value.

Pinto loved the Sens’ offseason, highlighted by acquiring Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins.

“I mean, we needed a goalie, and I’m happy we got him,” Pinto said, laughing.

The Sens also traded for Washington’s Nick Jensen and brought in proven goal scorer and Cup champion David Perron and underrated Vegas Golden Knights forward Michael Amadio, among others.

Travis Green takes over for Jacques Martin as coach.

“He played so I think he’s more relatable to us,” Pinto said. “He seems like an easy, chill guy. He met with me, Chuckie (Brady Tkachuk) and Sandy (Jake Sanderson) at worlds. Had lunch with us there and then checked in on me in July, just to make sure I was doing all the right things to get ready for the season.

“I like the conversations I’ve had with him so far. He seems pretty, just, mellow and obviously that could change during the season. But so far it’s been great. And I know we have a hard camp coming up, but I just want to get going. I’m sick of the waiting and I just want to start playing.”

Pinto’s only been around for a few years, but he also knows everyone, especially Sens fans, are “sick of waiting” for Ottawa to take the next step. With a strong core assembled, there’s been hype for the Sens entering recent seasons. Last year, there was immense disappointment in amassing the seventh-fewest points in the NHL.

Obviously, there were injuries to the likes of Josh Norris and Thomas Chabot and Pinto’s half-season absence, but the Sens tied for the fifth-most goals per game allowed (3.43), had the worst save percentage (.888 from Anton Forsberg, Joonas Korpisalo and Mads Sogaard) and the fourth-worst penalty kill (75.1 percent).

“I’d say goaltending for any team is a huge thing. I think anyone could tell you that,” Pinto said. “But I think another year under our belt with all the adversity we went through last year, it just makes us grow up even more, and I think that helps in this league a lot. I think if you see all these teams that are winning, they’re all much older and their nucleus is mostly 28-to-32-year-olds, and we’re still 22 to 26.

“There’s no excuse, though. I think there’s enough excuses. I think the fans are sick of it like we are. I think it’s time for us to become men this year and just put our best foot forward so there’s enough talking about it.”

It sure doesn’t help matters that Ottawa plays in the Atlantic Division along with teams that have won three Stanley Cup championships in the past five years (the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning), plus the Boston Bruins and Toronto Leafs and up-and-coming teams like the Buffalo Sabres, Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens. Last season, the Sens finished seventh in the division.

“It’s just maturing,” Pinto said. “We could score as many goals as any other team. I think it’s just coming down to us playing better defensively. I think last year we were slowly getting to that toward the end of the year. But I think if you watch the Florida Panthers play, they’re so sound with their details, and I think we have to really shore that up.

“And I think having Ullmark too will provide that confidence for us that we have a guy back there that could win us some games that we’re not supposed to.”

(Top photo: Eliot J. Schechter / NHLI via Getty Images)