We are going through the list that I consider to be the Oilers’ top 10 most important prospects. This is not strictly a list of the most skilled young or unestablished players in the organization. In the first installment I explained my thought process and I’ll be including that paragraph in each one of these posts just so I don’t have to figure out 10 different ways of saying the same thing.
I plan on going over the top 10 most important prospects in the Oilers’ organization. This is a little different (though not by much) than going through what I consider are the 10 best prospects in the organization. The key difference is that their ranking is determined both by their potential as well as how much the NHL club needs them to succeed. For example, I believe Iiro Pakarinen is a better prospect than several players on this list but as another winger in an organization flush with them I don’t have him in my top 10 most important prospects.
We are now entering the upper tier of Oiler prospects. All of the remaining players were relatively recent and high first round picks who factor large into the near future of the team. Although the next most important prospect is not tracking like a future dominant NHL star, he is still tracking to be a solid NHL player at one of the most difficult positions to learn at hockey’s highest level. He was a man-child playing in Edmonton’s backyard and the club paid a premium to acquire him. The 4th most important Oiler prospect is Griffin Reinhart.
10)
Jujhar Khaira
9)
Kyle Platzer
8)
Greg Chase
7)
Anthon Slepyshev
6)
Bogdan Yakimov
5)
Laurent Brossoit
4
Four is a fitting spot for Griffin Reinhart on this list as it’s a number he will forever be associated with. He was drafted 4th Overall in the 2012 Entry Draft by the New York Islanders and it’s going to be the expectations that come with that which will follow him around forever. The luster has worn off since June 2012 and the player was blocked in the Islanders organization to the point where it no longer made sense to keep him.
At Peter Chiarelli’s first draft as the President and GM of the Oilers he was pretty active in addressing the needs of the NHL club. Drafting 1st overall was a no-brainer, but after that he made significant moves with his other picks. With the 2015 Draft being considered one of the deepest in recent history the draft picks in the 1st round became extremely valuable. There have been strong rumors that the Oilers had made an offer to the Bruins for Dougie Hamilton with their picks that was stronger than what the Flames offered but they were shut out of the process. It is possible that being spurned there they moved on to Reinhart.
Ultimately the Oilers gave up the 16th and 33rd pick in that extremely deep draft to acquire Griffin Reinhart from the Islanders. Given the price that Dougie Hamilton (a much more established young defender with a higher upside) was acquired for, the Oilers paid a significant amount for someone who has a number of concerning question marks and who hasn’t established himself as an NHL player. A significant factor in making Reinhart the 4th most important Oiler prospect was his acquisition cost. They paid dearly. Not only will Reinhart be chasing the expectations of the 4th Overall pick, but he will also be compared heavily to the careers of Mathew Barzal (who was selected 16th Overall by the Islanders), Mitchell Stephens (who was selected 33rd Overall by Tampa Bay who traded down for the pick), Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota), and Evgeny Svechnikov (Detroit). The last two names listed were the names of the players the Oilers insiders were telegraphing as potential selections at the 16th pick.
Reinhart has his work cut out for him.
As for the player himself, Reinhart is a 6’4” shutdown defender weighing in at roughly 205 pounds and he’s just 21 years old. He was the Captain of the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL where, like Brossoit our number 5 prospect, the Edmonton Oilers got to watch very closely. Amidst all of the change to the management structure of the Oilers over the last year or so the head of scouting (pro and amateur) fell to former Oil Kings GM Bob Green. There’s no question that the Oilers felt like they knew what Griffin Reinhart was all about as a player and a person. In fact, it was speculated by several that if Reinhart moved then the Oilers made the most sense. Here’s a review of Reinhart from
SB Nation’s Lighthouse Hockey:
Griffin Reinhart - perhaps the biggest question, he played solid, but made the occasionally headscratching pass. That has long been my impression, that Griffin will be a solid player, but is there more upside? I see Dave Langevin being the max sort of player we might get out of him. I'm not convinced that he will stick given all of our D assets - if Leddy & Boychuk stayed, Hamonic & de Haan also seem long-term and Thomas Hickey is a gem, that's one spot if all are healthy - Reinhart can clearly enter this mix, but he also may not be essential. He remains a trade candidate to Edmonton, especially if a young forward prospect is made available.
That report was from February and frames the Reinhart scenario very well. The upside to Griffin Reinhart really is the question and it’s extremely difficult to judge given the player type. Shutdown defensemen aren't flashy and don’t traditionally provide a lot of offense. As such their defensive miscues tend to really stand out. Given everything we know about how long it takes many defensemen to learn how to really be effective in their own zone, these types of players can really look bad early on in their careers.
What the Oilers are hoping for, really, is that the Islanders gave up on this player too quickly or that this move really was about balancing the Islander prospects. When young players of this pedigree get moved this quickly the eyebrows get raised for good reason. This comes down to the Oilers believing they know this player better than the Islanders did. Chiarelli made his intentions very clear after the deal was made. He expects Reinhart to play for the Oilers this season and make a serious push in camp to earn a job on opening day. He also didn’t put this all on Bob Green. Chiarelli himself viewed this player in the AHL and liked what he saw.
Here are Reinhart’s numbers from HockeyDB going back to the 2009-2010 season:
2009-10 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 2GP, 0G-0A-0P, 0 PIM
2010-11 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 45GP, 6G-19A-25P, 36 PIM
2011-12 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 58GP, 12G-24A-36P, 38 PIM
2012-13 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 59GP, 8G-21A-29P, 35 PIM
2013-14 Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 45GP, 4G-17A-21P, 55 PIM
2014-15 New York Islanders NHL 8GP, 0G-1A-1P, 6 PIM
2014-15 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 59GP, 7G-15A-22P, 64 PIM
The one thing you’re going to notice looking through the numbers is that Reinhart was never a big scorer in the WHL. That’s just not his calling card. Despite that, he has been credited with having a good shot, but it has never translated into elite offensive production.
However, even though Reinhart’s contributions at the offensive side were modest at the WHL level, a good percentage of it transitioned with him to the AHL. Say what you will about his offensive abilities, his rookie AHL season wasn’t really that bad from an offensive perspective. 22 points in 59 games is really not bad at all for a 20 year old rookie professional. He was the 10th highest scoring rookie defender in the AHL and he didn’t play a full 75ish games. Really. That’s not bad.
Reinhart’s first season as a pro in the AHL went better than Oscar Klefbom’s first. If he can continue to develop and show more comfort in his position then the Oilers are going to be very happy with this player. Reinhart is a big defensive prospect who can play the left or right side (he played RHD in the WHL even though he shoots left) with pedigree. It cost the club significant assets to acquire him and he plays a position the Oilers have been weak at for a very long time. There’s no question in my mind. As of today Griffin Reinhart is the 4th most important Oiler prospect in the system.
Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»