Reinhart is a better player than Bennett. Nobody is disputing that, not that I am aware of at least. However, all else being equal, if they drafted Bennett over Reinhart, the Sabres are still in the same place: one of the worst teams of this decade. Neither make enough of an impact on the win column.
- buffalofan19

That's not even remotely true. Without Reinhart, our best natural RW is Okposo and we have no forward trade chips.

Bennett and Girgensons are duking it out for a 4th line LW spot.

Again, totally disingenuous. The problem isn't sam Reinhart, the problem is that nothing has been done to address the problem that has existed since the summer of '18

Bennett is a tougher Girgensons. Trying to put him in the same boat as Reinhart is disingenuous
- jcragcrumple

if you played reinhart between skinner and olofsson he would be a decent second line center IMO


much better then playing him between griffith and pouliot

I will absolutely admit a large part of my hesitation to sign Reinhart long term comes from Skinner. I was all for it. I was wrong. The problem was putting a premium on wingers. By signing Reinhart even to market value, you're doing the same thing.

Reinhart is a better player than Bennett. Nobody is disputing that, not that I am aware of at least. However, all else being equal, if they drafted Bennett over Reinhart, the Sabres are still in the same place: one of the worst teams of this decade. Neither make enough of an impact on the win column.
- buffalofan19

You're leaving one major aspect out, conveniently, and that's not having a quality trade chip that they do in Reinhart compared to Bennett, who would bring back much less in a trade.

reinhart is a better chip to have in your pocket today though then bennett
- navinrjohnson

Way better. Bingo.

That's not even remotely true. Without Reinhart, our best natural RW is Okposo and we have no forward trade chips.

Bennett and Girgensons are duking it out for a 4th line LW spot.

Again, totally disingenuous. The problem isn't sam Reinhart, the problem is that nothing has been done to address the problem that has existed since the summer of '18
- jcragcrumple

The Sabres already can't get much worse.

you skipped over the mcnabb part
- Michael Pachla

No, i didn’t
Soon as LA gave him a chance he’s been playing well ever since

GMTM has some weird bias against him bc he was a Darcy pick & not one of his guys

I think after this year they have enough young fire power.

Now is the time to make the “ROR” trade.
- Pegullaville

point taken...however, those top-six centers are extremely hard to come by and usually cost a lot

He became a RW because he isn't capable of playing center at this level. He had two tries at it. I will grant you that the first was during his 9 game tryout, but the second one was just as awful. I said it earlier this afternoon. It's not blaming Reinhart. He is who he is. He's earned the salary he's going to get. The problem is that if the Sabres are the team to give it to him, they are going to stay stuck in the place they are at now, nowhere near a championship.
- buffalofan19

Another generalization that isn't true. They can't make other moves, like trading 2 of Ristolainen, Montour, and Miller, along with other trade pieces, to improve the team while keeping Reinhart? There are many ways to improve the team.

point taken...however, those top-six centers are extremely hard to come by and usually cost a lot
- Michael Pachla

Vladimir Sobotka
Patrik Berglund
Tage Thompson
1st round pick
2nd round pick

There are many ways to improve the team.
- kingcong39

a new coach, gm and president is a good place to start

The Sabres already can't get much worse.
- buffalofan19

They would absolutely be worse with Bennett than Reinhart, and their current predicament has less to do with Sam Reinhart and more to do with the complete failure to recognize and address deficiencies that were apparent 20 months ago

And weren’t ppl saying that their line was doing well analytically anyways?

Tough to blame Sam for not turning those scrubs into legit players
Griffith went back to being a career AHLet
And i don’t think Pouliot has played hockey anywhere since last i checked
Weren’t there even ppl here that wanted to re-sign him??? Wtf?
- jdfitz77

Considering they haven’t played games since 9:02 PM, I’d say that is a safe assumption.

if you played reinhart between skinner and olofsson he would be a decent second line center IMO


much better then playing him between griffith and pouliot
- navinrjohnson

It’s ridiculous he wasn’t tried back at Center with all the issues we’ve had the last 2 seasons

Vladimir Sobotka
Patrik Berglund
Tage Thompson
1st round pick
2nd round pick
- navinrjohnson

And we were such a good team with that Center.

when gerbe gets bashed I pile on

when he deserves credit, I give it to him

"Favre said he has talked with Rodgers since the Packers traded up four spots to pick Love at No. 26 on Thursday.

"I'm not going to talk about all that we talked about, but he was ... let's just say surprised that they went in that direction," Favre said."

https://www.espn.com/nfl/...ers-finish-career-packers

It’s ridiculous he wasn’t tried back at Center with all the issues we’ve had the last 2 seasons
- jdfitz77

agreed

once ror got traded, he should have received a good luck with 2 of our better wingers

who's are their rw's?
- Michael Pachla

Look at the amount of wingers that could have been had the last few years via UFA or trades.

They are a lot more attainable then good Center man.

And we were such a good team with that Center.
- Buff36

we had griffith and pouliot as our 3rd line wingers

It’s ridiculous he wasn’t tried back at Center with all the issues we’ve had the last 2 seasons
- jdfitz77

It was, said it a lot, but 2 coaches thought differently.

Another generalization that isn't true. They can't make other moves, like trading 2 of Ristolainen, Montour, and Miller, along with other trade pieces, to improve the team while keeping Reinhart? There are many ways to improve the team.
- kingcong39

None of those players have the trade value Reinhart does, not even close. His perceived (key word being perceived) value is much higher. The biggest need for this team, we all agree, is a legitimate 2nd line center. Other than Eichel and Dahlin, no team gives the Sabres one unless Reinhart is involved. You can't say the same for anyone else on this roster.

point taken...however, those top-six centers are extremely hard to come by and usually cost a lot
- Michael Pachla

They should have paid the cost of Mittelstadt to acquire Trochek

Instead we're going to be stuck with some bargain-bin 30-something that Botterill can get for a 3rd and Laaksonen because his ego wont let him admit he whiffed on Mittelstadt

Yikes sounds like A Rod is done with the Packers if he goes to the Pat's I'm done
- gerbe75pts

"For salary-cap purposes, he's virtually untradable until after the 2021 season."

I will absolutely admit a large part of my hesitation to sign Reinhart long term comes from Skinner. I was all for it. I was wrong. The problem was putting a premium on wingers. By signing Reinhart even to market value, you're doing the same thing.
- buffalofan19

You complete me.

It was, said it a lot, but 2 coaches thought differently.
- Buff36

consider the coaches