GDT: Sabres at Panthers: 5:00 pm EDT because why not?

[BFLO]

No, the reason it's on Botts is that he had multiple opportunities to lock Sam up long term and decided to be cute with "prove it" bridge deals. By 20-21 Sam could see the writing on the wall and had no interest in staying for yet ANOTHER rebuild.

The writing was not on the wall in October of 2020 when Adams signed him to that deal.

The Sabres had just come off a season where they were 1 point out of the playin bubble playoffs and had signed Taylor Hall.

Expectations were for the cup that season, not last place and another subsequent rebuild.

Edit: Botts only signed Reinhart to 1 deal. A 2 year prove it contract. Reinhart proved it and then Adams chose not to extend him long term. Instead letting it go to abitration and a 1 year deal.

 

[5 Minute Major]

If my memory serves me correctly, Reinhart was involved in a decision by the Sabres that, to this day, leaves me shaking my head.

He was late for practice or something like that. Bylsma decided to discipline Reinhart (no problem with that) by making him sit the bench the entire game, essentially leaving the team 1 skater short.

Just a reminder that Barnum and Bailey has been in town for quite some time.

 

[joshjull]

The writing was not on the wall in October of 2020 when Adams signed him to that deal.

The Sabres had just come off a season where they were 1 point out of the playin bubble playoffs and had signed Taylor Hall.

Expectations were for the cup that season, not last place and another subsequent rebuild.

Edit: Botts only signed Reinhart to 1 deal. A 2 year prove it contract. Reinhart proved it and then Adams chose not to extend him long term. Instead letting it go to abitration and a 1 year deal.

You have to be joking with this framing.

Missing the playoff bubble that season meant we were in 13th place in the conference. We were 13pts away from a real playoff spot in a normal season. That meant we sucked. No one in the hockey world thought we were Cup contenders either. Pegula just made a stupid statement to that effect because he’s an idiot.

 

[Dex]

My recollection of what went on with Reinhart goes back to the summer after his second ELC year. After having been send back to Kootenay in his D+1 year, and having been told that he needed to work on is strength - which he did - he had a pretty nice rookie year in his D+2 season. - 23 G/19A/42 Points.

The next season he had another nice year - 17G/30A/47 Points . The summer after that second second ELC season, he was eligible to be extended. If I recall correctly, there was a lot of talk about that and how that is something that Reinhart wanted. He did come off of two pretty decent years. Perhaps the most notable thing about his play was that he had shown that he was not afraid to stay in front of the net - despite not being a physical player otherwise. He also had established a nice rapport with Eichel on ice and again, if I recall correctly, there was lots of talk that Eichel was a tough player to play along side so that rapport was viewed as a plus. In the end, while Eichel was extended with his the signing of his $10M deal, and several other players signed contracts - Reinhart was overlooked and would have to wait until after his ELC contract was done. My recollection is that Reinhart was disappointed that the Botts would not show faith in him.

The following off-season, coming off his best season yet (25G/25A/50 Points) - the feeling on the Reinhart side was that he would be signed to a long term deal, which is what he wanted. Again, base on my recollection, there were multiple signings of other players, leaving insufficient cap space for a long term deal. Botts ending signing him to the bridge/prove it deal pretty late in the game. That was again perceived by Reinhart as a slap in the face and pretty much set the tone for the chance of the Sabres signing him long term after that deal expired

So - I think that Botts bears the burden of having blown any chance of signing Sam long term in Buffalo.

 

[BFLO]

My recollection of what went on with Reinhart goes back to the summer after his second ELC year. After having been send back to Kootenay in his D+1 year, and having been told that he needed to work on is strength - which he did - he had a pretty nice rookie year in his D+2 season. - 23 G/19A/42 Points.

The next season he had another nice year - 17G/30A/47 Points . The summer after that second second ELC season, he was eligible to be extended. If I recall correctly, there was a lot of talk about that and how that is something that Reinhart wanted. He did come off of two pretty decent years. Perhaps the most notable thing about his play was that he had shown that he was not afraid to stay in front of the net - despite not being a physical player otherwise. He also had established a nice rapport with Eichel on ice and again, if I recall correctly, there was lots of talk that Eichel was a tough player to play along side so that rapport was viewed as a plus. In the end, while Eichel was extended with his the signing of his $10M deal, and several other players signed contracts - Reinhart was overlooked and would have to wait until after his ELC contract was done. My recollection is that Reinhart was disappointed that the Botts would not show faith in him.

The following off-season, coming off his best season yet (25G/25A/50 Points) - the feeling on the Reinhart side was that he would be signed to a long term deal, which is what he wanted. Again, base on my recollection, there were multiple signings of other players, leaving insufficient cap space for a long term deal. Botts ending signing him to the bridge/prove it deal pretty late in the game. That was again perceived by Reinhart as a slap in the face and pretty much set the tone for the chance of the Sabres signing him long term after that deal expired

So - I think that Botts bears the burden of having blown any chance of signing Sam long term in Buffalo.

Yes. All of that is true. And I agree it was a mistake from Botts.

But you’re leaving out that Reinhart still wanted to sign long term in the 2020 offseason. Adams did not offer Reinhart a long term deal. Adams low balled Reinhart on a short term deal. So Reinhart opted for arbitration and a 1 year contract.

Then the disastrous 2020-21 season happened and Reinhart needed another new deal, but no longer wanted to be a Sabre.

 

[GrierIsGod123]

I like you. You go down swinging. Even though you also simultaneously annoy me (I fully expect the auto “Troll Stomper” bot to give me a warning here) and defend your position

I like you too, you bring a nice Canadian energy and vibe to the board. I'll fully admit that I'm insufferable during the game day threads, especially this season. I use the game day thread to vent and suffer through with all of you fine folks. I can totally understand how that would annoy some people here and apologize for that. But, I've been here through thick and thin and watched a ton of bad hockey like most of us. I've been on this board since the era when we were having similar conversations about the Roy/Vanek/Connolly/Pominville/Miller core. Sometimes you know that the group you're watching flat out isn't good enough or is just good enough to come close or make a first round exit from the playoffs. I'm sick of that shit.

This season, I've reached my lowest point as a fan in a long long time and was close to throwing in the towel altogether at points. It's honestly the first year where I maybe watched half the games. A lot of that is being busy with work travel and having a young family, but I still love the game and just want to get back to being a respectable organization.

 

[sabres4ever]

Delete.