Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – Craig Berube hit his expiry date episode on Ottawa Senators suspended and restricted free agent Shane Pinto.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Marek: “Shane Pinto returning to Ottawa. We all know that his suspension will eventually be over and he’ll be welcome back to the Senators with a new contract. Heading back to Ottawa soon?
Friedman: “Yeah, game 42 for the Senators is on January 21. It’s against the Philadelphia Flyers. They have a bit of a unique situation, that they’ve basically played fewer games than anybody else. And so they have to catch up. So he’s eligible to play against Philly.
There is a stipulation for suspended players that you can return, I think it’s like 10 days before you’re first allowed to play and you can start practicing with the team. But Pinto has to get back into Ottawa, find a place, start working out get you know, reinsert himself into the city, kind of. And I’m under the impression it’s getting very close to do that.
Like the agent in the team, they aren’t talking about it, but I heard it this week, from someone that he’s going to be going back and I would assume that he will sign for the remainder of this year basically on his qualifying offer. Again, I don’t know that. Nobody’s confirming that and unless they come up with a surprise multi-year deal here, I think he’s gonna sign for the rest of this season and then we’ll see.
NHL Rumors: Who is in the market for a goaltender, and who could be available?
But, but the one thing that has not changed to me, Jeff, is that I don’t have anybody telling me that he is not part of their core. I still think they consider him to be a key part of their group as the Senators grow.