Sportsnet: Jeff Marek and Ian Mendes talking about Shane Pinto’s 41 game suspension and what it might mean for his contract situation with the Ottawa Senators.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Marek: “He’s had to endure a number of things said about him, you know, swords and daggers and all of it. You have a thought on Pierre Dorian through all of this and is he owed an apology?
Mendes: “Well, I don’t know that he’s owed an apology because I think it doesn’t, look, like it’s certainly just exonerates him from at the point when the league alerted them, all the parties that there’s an investigation to now. And whether that was four weeks, six weeks, six, you know that part again, we’ll wait and see.
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But there was a huge window of time in June, July, and August and my guess would be, he signed Tarasenko without this knowledge, that’s my guess. And, and we’ll see how the timelines match up, but he signed Tarasenko in July. You prioritized other people over Pinto before this happened. So, but, but there’s a, boy again, it’s a, it’s a tight one.
Let me put it this way. The Ottawa Senators are capped out and they don’t have Shane Pinto signed. That’s a problem. Like, that’s a problem that has nothing to do with Shane Pinto and the gambling story. And it’s very much a reality that we’re living in now. They don’t have a plan. They’re capped out and they don’t even have this guy signed.
So that, you know, he certainly I think deserves a little bit of leeway for how maybe things have gone in the last few weeks. But I don’t know that it gives him a free pass on the entire being capped up. That’s just me.
Marek: “Here’s, here’s what I wonder about now though, Ian, now that this had, now that this had, the NHL is, you know, announcing this 41 game suspension for Shane Pinto for sports wagering. I do wonder if the play now is that Pinto signs either, a league minimum or a close to a league minimum deal, because the news didn’t get out and Ottawa went out the door and around the block to make sure that there were no leaks around this one.
I wonder if as maybe as a thank you. maybe I’m being naive here and you can tell me if you think I’m being naive here. Maybe Shane Pinto as a thank you just for the remainder of the season, does a league minimum deal or something close to it?
Mendes: “Well, I think we can agree on this, Shane Pinto doesn’t have a lot of leverage now. Right? Like, like, whatever leverage he may have had. It’s dissipated. And so, yeah, I think I think you probably look at this and say the way that this was handled was probably the right way because I think it was really kept under wraps until probably the last, you know, four or five days is when it probably started to, you know, maybe kind of leak out a little bit and, but, but, I think now if you’re Shane Pinto, like you, you do have to pretty much get something done right away.
And I guess you look at it, and you say, okay, well, he’s gonna be suspended for 41 games, if I’m going to be forfeiting salary, I’m not getting paid anyway. Right? Like so, you know, I’m forfeiting less salary, I suppose if you look at it from that perspective.
But, but they still will have to get them done, if I’m not mistaken, and we’ll see how the mechanics work. When a player is suspended, does the December 1st rule still apply to him? My guess would be yes as an RFA…”
Marek: “No.”
Mendes: “It’s doesn’t.”
Marek: “They’re waiving that. I believe they’re waiving that one? Yeah, they’re gonna waive that.”
Mendes: “There you go, that’s something I just learned. This is why I joined the Jeff Marek show. Is that I can learn things about the CBA. I wasn’t sure the mechanic of that.
Marek: “I take it to beach every summer.”
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Mendes: “But, but I think realistically, I think when I looked at it, I think the first game you can come back is like the middle of January, against Philadelphia. And I mean, if your Shane Pinto, you have to start looking at that now. Right? You have to start thinking okay, well, now I can’t come back and play in November and December. The earliest I can come back is January, and at this point in my life, I need to get back in play. So yeah, I absolutely see the path towards just taking a minimum deal and, and signing on the dotted line.”
