Buffalo Sabres forward Sam Reinhart was taken 2nd overall in the 2014 draft. There were three players at the top of that draft who were all considered possible No. 1 overall picks--Reinhart, C, Sam Bennett and D, Aaron Ekblad, who was the eventual 1st overall pick by the Florida Panthers. One player, forward Leon Draisaitl, snuck into the top-three when he was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers leaving Bennett to be plucked by the Calgary Flames in the No.4 slot.
Ekblad had himself a pretty good rookie season on an up-and-coming Panthers team. He was on the top-pairing with former Sabres d-man Brian Campbell and was on the top powerplay unit. Ekblad finished the season with 12 goals, 27 assists and was a plus-12 on his way to the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year. After the NHL season ended he headed to the Czech Republic and helped Team Canada to a gold medal at the World Championships.
The Calgary Flames had a very strong season last year and were the beneficiaries of some pretty good drafting under the leadership of team president, Brian Burke. Sean Monahan proceeded Bennett in 2013 and jumped right to the NHL as an 18 yr. old.
Unfortunately for Bennett his NHL aspirations were side-tracked as he was rehabbing from a shoulder injury for a good chunk of the 2014-15 season. He ended up playing 11 regular season for his junior club, Kingston, scoring 11 goals and adding 13 assists. After the Frontenacs were swept in the OHL playoffs he joined the Flames for the final regular season game. Calgary made the playoffs for the first time since 2009 and would make it to the second round. Bennett had four points (3+1) in 11 playoff games.
Both Draisaitl and Reinhart would start the season with their NHL clubs but end up back in junior for the balance of the season. Draisaitl played 37 games for Edmonton before the Oilers sent him back to Prince Albert. He had a very pedestrian 37-game tryout totaling only nine points (2+7) before they decided to keep his UFA year intact (had he played in 40 games, he'd have been one year closer to free agency.) After a trade to Kelowna he dominated with 53 regular season points in 34 games while adding 10 goals and 18 assists in only 19 playoff games.
There was an interesting piece today from TSN's Frank Servalli on the by-passing of bridge contracts for young stars like the St. Louis Blues Vladmir Taresenko. In years past, young players would come off of their entry-level deals and would be expected to sign bridge contracts which were basically short-term, "show me" contracts. If they proved themselves, they'd get the long-term mega-deal which invariably went only to superstars. The most recent example of that was Montreal defenseman PK Subban. In 2012 he signed a two-year bridge deal then followed that up with a very lucrative eight-year deal, the max term allowed under the collective bargaining agreement.
With Taresenko as the focus of the article, Servalli tapped into a TSN 1050 interview with Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock who's first gig was coaching the 1984-85 Kamloops Blazers. Hitchcock has been a coach in the NHL since 1990 and won a Stanley Cup as head coach of the Dallas Stars and he's amazed at how prepared young players are for the NHL these days. 'I’ve never seen players who are as in-tune with what’s needed on the ice, off the ice, conditioning-wise, play-wise, technically-wise,' he said. 'You sit down and talk to these kids and they know as much about systems and style of play [as anyone]. It’s really impressive.'
At 6'1" 185 lbs. Reinhart was a tad undersized for the NHL his draft year and his skating was considered average a best. But what would place Reinhart into the No. 1 overall conversation was his hockey sense and raw skill. Here's what Kyle Woodlief of the Red Line Report had to say about Reinhart pre-draft:
"Off-the-charts hockey IQ. Sees plays developing that few in the game are capable of recognizing. First line centre potential. Calm demeanor coupled with outstanding puck protection, an ability to corral any pass and slip past contact in traffic set him apart. Extremely imaginative playmaker can thread the needle through the tightest of openings. Overall is barely an average skater, but seems to skate better with the puck on his stick than without. Still makes impressive plays when he should be off balance. Tremendous stickhandling ability - never turns the puck over in a meaningful situation. Puck explodes off his blade on a well-hidden snap shot release. Beats goalies in quite a variety of ways. Never gives up on a play at either end. Has unbelievable knack for stripping opposing players of the puck. On quiet nights still manages to end up with three points on the scoresheet."
Reinhart plays a very subtle game to the point where one game isn't enough to see what he brings to the table. Said Buffalo's director of player personnel Kevin Devine pre-draft, " If you watch him only once or twice you say 'What's the big deal?' but when you continue to watch him, you see how smart a player he is. He reads the play extremely well, he's always a step ahead."
Sabres brass got more than a few games to see what Reinhart had at the next level, first at the Traverse City Tournament playing against his peers then at the NHL-level playing against men. The conclusion was that his smarts and skill were being overpowered by bigger, stronger players in a league full of men. And in a very difficult decision for Murray, he sent his first-ever pick as a general manager
back to junior after nine games in the NHL. "I told him (Reinhart,) you're my first 1st-round draft pick as a GM," said Murray at the time,. "I was cheering for him, but obviously, I can't let emotions come into play.
"I told him he’s just not heavy enough. He’s not strong enough yet."
Murray told Reinhart to go back to junior and work on strength and conditioning. “He’s going to have to find a way two or three times a week to slip out on his own and get to the gym and get stronger.”
Reinhart responded.
Back in April he made an appearance on WGR550 and talked about the grind of playing and working out in-season. "It's tough to work on [the strength] part. It's hard to get into a gym when you're playing so many games during the year. I was fortunate enough because of the schedule that I was able to get in there quite a bit," he said then.
Reinhart had a three-game stint with the Rochester Americans after his junior career finished and when he came back to Buffalo this off-season he passed physical testing with flying colors. “[Murray] was aware that if I wanted to be in this position that I am now, that I’d have to take some of my game off the ice. That was probably the hardest part about going back, to convince myself to do it.” said Reinhart at development camp. “It’s challenging for me. I wanted to be 100 percent every day when I went on the ice, but to be able to get into the gym and to be where I was at both on and off the ice was essential for me.”
It's not quite over for him yet as summer is very important. "This summer is huge for him," said Murray of Reinhart. "If he can gain 5-7 lbs. (putting him over 190 lbs. on his 6'1" frame,) he's a different player. The talent's there. The hockey sense is there. Everything's there. Now can he step up and take the constant grind of playing against 10-15 year veterans." On the Sabres development camp roster Reinhart's listed at 187 lbs. but adding those final three pounds or so might end up being quite be difficult as his body may not be constructed that way.
Regardless of where he ends up on the scales, the trouble the team might have is where to place him in the Sabres lineup. In one fell swoop Murray drafted a No. 1 center in Jack Eichel and traded for Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly a top-six/top-line center on Day-1 of the 2015 NHL Draft. With the emergence of center Zemgus Girgensons last year as a top-nine/top-six forward with upside, Reinhart's a little ways down the depth chart at the center position. One thing that all three ahead of him have in common, and you can even throw in top-nine center Johan Larsson, is NHL size. The "smallest" of the group is Girgensons who comes in at 6'1" 190 lbs, but he's been in a man's body ever since he hit the AHL at the age of 18.
In a strange twist the past five months, the last place Sabres have gone from having no true top-line players to now having two in O'Reilly and Evander Kane, with a third (Eichel) on the way. Add in Girgensons and top-sixers Tyler Ennis and Matt Moulson and the top-six is pretty crowded right now.
Is Reinhart a third-liner? Maybe. Having him skate between veterans Jamie McGinn and Brian Gionta may be a great spot for him. Reinhart plays a 200' game while both McGinn and Gionta can play a pretty solid two-way game and they can impart their wealth of knowledge on the youngin. But it all depends upon what Murray has in mind for the team next year. Will he be gung-ho to shoot for the playoffs with the acquisition of a top-four d-man? Or will he let things work themselves out under new head coach Dan Bylsma? Or, will Reinhart be moved to wing?
Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com told me that the addition of David Legwand via the Robin Lehner trade, would allow for Reinhart to spend a little time in Rochester. "The immediate reaction of Legwand," Baker told me, "was, 'he could play here for a year and ride off into the sunset.' But [Legwand] could be a really good veteran to help Reinhart by giving him time in Rochester if he needs 10, 15, 20 games on the farm."
And in an interesting twist as to how things might unfold, Baker, who has no problem with Reinhart heading to Rochester for a brief stint, had this to say as to where they could position Reinhart during this period. "I'd rather have him develop as a center in Rochester for a little while and [then] on the wing in Buffalo."
Why that approach?
"There's no pressure on him and he can continue to play the (center's) position that he's always played. You don't develop bad habits on the wing, but it's not where he's going to play. I want guys playing where they're going to play."
With Reinhart's smarts and ability to see the entire ice, one can see where Baker's coming from. Until there's movement in the forward ranks, and/or until Reinhart can use his hockey sense to stay out of trouble at the pro level, developing him at his natural position in Rochester while lessening the pressures of being an NHL center by placing him on the wing would allow him to develop at his own pace.
The conundrum of where Reinhart fits in this season remains two-fold and will take the entire off-season, training camp and preseason to figure out. As it stands right now, he still needs to prove that he can physically hang with the big boys. Off-season conditioning and confidence are key areas that have yielded positive results thus far, but even if he hits his the targets Murray has for him, he's still caught up in a numbers game.
Stay tuned.
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