I woke up this morning and saw the news about Reinhart and will admit I was wrong when I said I didn’t expect the Panthers to make any trades like that. But more on that in a minute…
I guess the theme of last night’s draft was to scoop up Michigan Wolverines if you could. Seriously. It seemed like the majority of guys were either current Michigan players or going to be playing at Michigan soon.
The Panthers followed this trend by selecting 18-year-old winger Mackie Samoskevich of the USHL Chicago Steel with the 24th overall pick. Samoskevich has committed to playing for the Michigan Wolverines for the 2021-22 season.
In his second season with the Steel, Samoskevich had 37 points (13G, 24A) in 36 games. Elite Prospects describes Samoskevich’s playing style as:
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He’ll blend pass receptions into highly creative dangles around defenders, with top-hand control of his stick pushed out from his body, and quick-twitch wrists to string it all together. He manages space exceptionally well, constantly scanning for the positions of his teammates and opponents alike. And he uses that mental map of the ice to plan his every manoeuvre one or two plays ahead of the competition.”
That’s a really good profile and I’m looking forward to seeing his development.
Reinhart Trade
This actually really surprises me. I didn’t think the Cats would be making a big move in terms of the trade space. I thought, if anything, they would make a deal that would unload some money in order to resign key RFAs.
What’s even more interesting is that the true return that’s heading to BUF has still not been released - outside of a 7th round pick and goalie prospect Devon Levi.
I agree with Mike Harrington’s Tweet here. I would imagine something else is almost certainly going to Buffalo.
George Richards has a
good write up about Reinhart and the current “pending” trade.
I think he’s on the money when he says:
“
A veteran player such as Frank Vatrano or Noel Acciari could be part of the Buffalo return although both players are entering the final year of their current contract.”
I believe something like this has to happen in order to make this trade work for Florida and still get the other guys they need resigned. Starting to wonder if maybe Bennett or another center is heading to Buffalo in this deal.
Some interesting info on Reinhart from the same article:
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With Jack Eichel hurt this season, Reinhart moved to center Buffalo’s top line and tied a career-high with 25 goals and did so in just 56 games.
The 25-year-old ended up leading a pretty bad Buffalo team with 40 points last season. He has averaged 22 goals in his six full-time seasons with the Sabres. He also had 10 goals and 16 points on the power play this season.
In 454 career games, Reinhart has scored 134 goals with 295 points.
Reinhart, like others, have made it clear they want out of Buffalo but Florida is thought to want to have a contract extension in place with Reinhart before a deal could be done.
Reinhart is a restricted free agent as is Sam Bennett, whom the Panthers acquired at the trade deadline.
Coincidentally, if Reinhart ends up in Florida, the Panthers would have three of the top four picks of the 2014 NHL Draft which was held in Philadelphia.
Florida took Aaron Ekblad first overall with Reinhart going the Sabres at No. 2. Bennett was picked fourth.“
I know a lot of Sabres fans are kind of split on Reinhart, but I’ve always liked what I saw of him. I think a change of scenery will be good for him.
Exciting stuff…can’t wait to see all the pieces involved when the trade is finally officially announced.
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