Pinto showed what he can do when healthy by scoring six goals in the first eight games of his rookie season of 2022-23 after his previous season was derailed by injuries and subsequent shoulder surgery.

The native of Franklin Square, New York, and a second-round pick (No. 32) of the Ottawa Senators in the 2019 NHL Draft, used the time away to wind down and think about hockey.

"Just having that fresh start and flushing down last year and just being ready for this year was my main focus," Pinto told NHL.com.

Pinto signed a four-year, $30 million contract (average annual value of $7.5 million) with the Senators on Nov, 13, 2025, one day after his 25th birthday. He began that season coming off two consecutive appearances for the United States at the IIHF World Championship and winning gold in 2025,

Pinto played most of his minor hockey for the Tier 2 Brooklyn Aviators. It led him to the University of North Dakota, and he became a finalist for the 2021 Hobey Baker Award, given to the top men's NCAA hockey player in the United States.

Pinto grew up in an athletic family, his father, Frank, a men's league baseball player and sister, Brianna, captain of the Fordham University softball team. Though baseball was Shane's first love, hockey became his sport of choice while playing for an under-16 team in the United States Premier Hockey League. At the under-18 level, he had 34 goals and 65 points in 54 games, and then 60 points in 61 games at North Dakota.