Confirmed with Link: FLA acquires forward Sam Reinhart from Buffalo, for 1st rounder (2022) & prospect Devon Levi

Status
Not open for further replies.

ProjectPanthers

Podcast discussing the Florida Panthers
Mar 6, 2002
13,551
7,213
Towanna
linktr.ee
Now he's our player, can people start spelling his name correctly. It is Reinhart, not Reinhardt...
Reinhardtskin2.jpg

Reinhardt_portrait.png
 

Clint

Registered User
Jul 14, 2003
6,937
604
What I liked most about this trade is that there was no loyalty... They weren’t stuck on the guy just because they drafted him.

Guaranteed, Dale would’ve... said... we didn’t want to mortgage the future for a bandaid.

To piggyback off of this analysis, it dovetails quite nicely into the "but can the Panthers afford Barkov or Huberdeau now" line of questioning, after some of our RFA signings.

Here's the thing. Zito's job is to do whatever it takes for the Florida Panthers to win a Stanley Cup. That takes precedence over re-signing Barkov and Huberdeau. Of course I want to see them lift the Cup with a Panther jersey on. I think they're two of the most valuable players we have that will help us reach that goal.

But IF, however unlikely, re-signing Barkov and/or Huberdeau precludes us from winning a Stanley Cup then so be it. In the unlikely event that Barkov and/or Huberdeau are outshined by Bennett, Verhaeghe, Reinhart or whomever, then Zito must prioritize the assets who bring us closer to the Cup.
 

Ryuji Yamazaki

Do yuu undastahn!?
Jul 22, 2015
9,011
5,234
So, posters here are a bit upset over Bennett 4.4 but you feel Verhaeghe should be at 5x5?

That seems a bit high to me as Swaggy has had one good year. Unless you feel he is another Marchessault.

I mean, I'd love to have him cheaper of course, but he just put up a monster season. I hope Zito can work some magic, we'll need all the cap space we can to keep Huberdeau and Barkov.
 
  • Like
Reactions: harv33173

Doohickie

Ft Worth (from Bflo)
Feb 16, 2013
792
418
We were rumored to be in on several centers this offseason, so I wonder if they plan on using reinhart as a center? Also, didn’t zito say when he acquired Bennett that he’ll most likely be a winger here? Wonder what setups they try
I think you play around and see what works.

Prior to the NHL, Reino was a center. For probably 95% of his career, he's been a RW. To be honest I'm not sure what he prefers. He's capable of both.
 

Doohickie

Ft Worth (from Bflo)
Feb 16, 2013
792
418
Agreed, but I'd say this is also good for Levi. Even though it's sucky Buffalo, he will get a good chance to be a starter, while here he'd have a really tough competition in Knight. And who knows, maybe in four years when he's ready for a bigger role in the NHL, the Sabers won't be the total dumpster they are now.

I think it's likely he'll be in the NHL prior to 4 years; I doubt he does 4 years in college. But even if he comes out after two years, the Sabres will likely be a different team compared to last year's tire fire. They have a middle six of "kids" that are just coming into their own in the NHL. Assuming they progress into a respectable top six (and/or the Sabres pick up another piece or two), and they have Dahlin, Power and Jokiharju on D, they should be a helluva lot better.

New HC Don Granato has 30 years coaching experience, primarily in development programs. He has a bunch of young NHLers and tweeners to mold into a real NHL team; I think he's got the right resume for that particular challenge. He might not get the Sabres deep into the playoffs but he should be able to get them to respectability.
 

Doohickie

Ft Worth (from Bflo)
Feb 16, 2013
792
418
In his presser after the trade, he mentioned it was disappointing in Buffalo because he was always prepared to sign long term, but they kept doing short deals.

My guess is he wants to sign long term if possible.

Is it just me or does it seem like all Buffalo fans are hoping he signs short term so that we lose him and to spite us? I don’t really get it lol
There may be some of that involved, but the other thing is that he was rumored to have a strong preference to play out west, preferably Vancouver where he's from. He wanted the longer term deal, but now that he's a UFA and he seems to be improving year on year, his best strategy for maximizing earnings is a short term deal now followed by a longer "star" deal.
I have noticed in this thread and other places that his quotes all refer to signing "a contract" with no reference to term. Of course he's going to sign a contract; he's an RFA. But I think he may still be interested in negotiating a contract where he is an unrestricted free agent.
 

VijayPatel11

Registered User
Mar 29, 2021
970
1,408
Sarasota, FL
Sabres fan chiming in here to say: unless extending Sam long-term would put you in massive cap hell (I haven't followed the rest of the league as much recently since we've been a dumpster fire for so long), you'll probably wanna do that. He's still only 25, turning 26 early in the season, plays a cerebral game that will age well, and he's had very few injury issues. He can plug in basically anywhere in a team's top 6 and make the guys around him better and plays a solid two-way game. About the only part of his game that's kinda weak is killing penalties; he doesn't really have the stop-start quickness to excel there. I still can't believe Botterill was too stupid to extend him long-term back in 2018 on a $6.5ish x 8 year deal or something like that, it would've been a bargain after a couple years. Hope he tears it up for the Panthers except when you're playing us.
I agree, to me he is similar to Huberdeau in that his game does not rely so much on speed, which inevitably deteriorates as you age
Both of their games should age well like you said
 

WaitingForThatCab

Gas up the Lombo
Mar 11, 2017
13,806
19,337
Really smart of Zito to capitalize on Levi’s potential/hype/World Juniors performance now instead of trying to do it 1-2 years from now when it means nothing/he’s already shit the bed. The guy has never played a college game and he’s a 7th round pick and he’s apparently a centerpiece for a 50+ point guy. Unreal.

I don't know if this move will bring the Panthers a championship or not, but what I do know is this:

Bill Zito understands asset management very well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: harv33173 and KW

Doohickie

Ft Worth (from Bflo)
Feb 16, 2013
792
418
The guy has never played a college game and he’s a 7th round pick and he’s apparently a centerpiece for a 50+ point guy. Unreal.

Yeah. And I wish that was the worst thing that happened to the Sabres this week but it's not even close. Stay-at-home defenseman Jake McCabe didn't stay at home.... he's leaving for Chicago. And the dastardly Bruins signed our goalie Linus Ullmark.

And still no Eichel trade.

Not a good time to be a Sabres fan. :(
 
  • Like
Reactions: harv33173

Beezer

Trochek Was Tripped!
Jun 24, 2007
7,405
378
Orlando, Florida
Really love Zito! Love Reinhart's game!

I expect he will inject life into our offense much like Hoffman did when he joined the team(what we were missing when he left). We got some of it back with Bennett but this move, wow, just so excited for the season.

We don't have a #1 & #2 scoring line anymore, we now have 2x true #1 scoring lines!

Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart
Huberdeau-Bennet-Duke
 
  • Like
Reactions: BabyBennettov

Thomas Colavecchio

Registered User
Mar 24, 2019
307
371
With $8.5M in cap space right now I am not worried with the contracts given out by Z so far. Reinhart will get around $6M x 4.

Per Cap Friendly, the 8.5 M in cap space right now is for 13 F's,
7 D, and 3 goalies. Obviously, that number does not include Reinhart, as well as either Mamin, or Lundell.

Assuming Reinhart at an AAV of 6.0 M (could be more), plus

Mamin " " .975 M
Lundell " " .925 M
Gibson " " .750 M (-) (to AHL /2 Way)

Added CAP assigned 7.15 M

Approximate CAP to remain 1.35 M (w/ 16 F's, 7 D, 2 G)
(without added moves)
 
Last edited:

SufferingCatFan

Registered User
Apr 6, 2008
2,344
167
fort lauderdale
Really love Zito! Love Reinhart's game!

I expect he will inject life into our offense much like Hoffman did when he joined the team(what we were missing when he left). We got some of it back with Bennett but this move, wow, just so excited for the season.

We don't have a #1 & #2 scoring line anymore, we now have 2x true #1 scoring lines!

Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart
Huberdeau-Bennet-Duke

Coach Q will have a ton of options as to top 3 lines. Some project Reinhart as a 1c/2c center based upon his play with Buffalo after Eichel went down.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->