Picking Reinhart vs Draisaitl and where it ranks in bad decisions?

[toomuchsauce]

The thing about Draisaitl that I still remember from his draft year is that he had some ridiculously high percentage of points on Prince Albert's goals, like 80%. Just absurd.

Sam Reinhart is extremely good though, so this should be the absolute least of our "what if" worries. In that same draft, drafting Brycen Martin 5 spots before...ahem...Brayden Point...is just the worst. It's not like Brayden Point's success was unforeseeable. A lot people knew he would be good. Even Craig Button was hyping Point pre-draft.

 

[explore]

Reinhart was the safe pick. He had the family pedigree to back him up and with the Sabres drafting in the top 5 for the first time since 2003, they couldn't afford to screw up. I don't fault Tim Murray for picking Reinhart over Draisaitl. I liked Draisaitl's numbers, but I thought he was more likely to bust than Reinhart.

I remember Stokes went against the grain and said that Draisaitl should've been the pick and that the Sabres would regret not picking him. He got made fun of a lot, but even considering the McDavid boost Draisaitl is getting, he's a more talented player than Reinhart.

I think Reinhart will continue getting better as he ages, as his game relies more on being in the right place at the right time rather than being the fastest or strongest, but only a fool wouldn't trade Reinhart for Draisaitl today.

Also, the 2012 draft had the most predictable pick at number four with Brian "Truculent" Burke drafting Sam Bennett for Calgary.

 

[Samsonite23]

If they ever tried to give him a shot at center, he could have been just as valuable. Guess we’ll never know. I can’t recall a player whose characteristics were so suited for center vs. winger but never got a real shot there. The position was so natural for him.

 

[Fjordy]

Duclair has chemistry with Reinhart?

 

[Chainshot]

Duclair has chemistry with Reinhart?

At the u20’s, yes.

 

[Buffaloed]

Remember how good Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek looked when they joined the Sabres and how their flaws were exposed and exploited as the surrounding talent left? What do Reinhart and Eichel have supporting them? The tank broke the back of this team. It ripped out the core and replaced them with bums. It's never recovered. We still only have one scoring line. Now we talk about trading for players like Stafford, Kotalik, and Pyatt . Considering the lousy developmental environment Reinhart has done quite well.

Drury
Briere
Connolly
Dumont
Pominville
Afinogenov
Kotalik
Hecht
Grier
Gaustad
Stafford
Pyatt

 

[OcAirlines]

I'm German so I would have absolutely loved to get Draisaitl on the Sabres, but the decision was understandable at the time. Reinhart was the safe choice while Draisaitl was more boom-or-bust, of course now that Leon panned out many people will forget about the risk that was attached to him back then. Also who knows if he would've developed the same way here because obviously the dynamic between him and McDavid is a very important factor to his success.

And lastly, let's not forget that it wasn't just between Draisaitl and Reinhart back then but that Sam Bennett was also in the conversation, who hasn't done too well so far. So we didn't really end up with the worse choice in the A vs B scenario, but with the middle-ground in a three-way-race.

 

[Reddawg]

It’s really no different than Edmonton taking Nugent-Hopkins and then watching Landeskog, Huberdeau, Scheifele and heck, maybe even Zibanejad become more productive forwards for their teams.

You have to act on the information you have, and at the time there was a clear top choice at forward (Reinhart) and a clear top choice at defense (Ekblad). There was murmuring about Bennett maybe being a savvy choice for the #2 pick but no one was talking up Draisaitl for the choice. There’s no reason to look down on it now, especially considering Sam is still growing as a productive player for us. Will he ever beast like Draisaitl does? No, but there are like three guys in the world that can play like he does and Edmonton just happens to have two of them.

 

[EichHart]

Relive the 2014 Draft in every excruciating detail

Do you believe Sabres front office really thought Sam Reinhart was BPA in 2014 draft?
2014 NHL Draft: Buffalo Sabres draft review
2014 Draft: Which Forward Do You Want?
2014 Draft: Ekblad vs. top forward available
2014 Mock Draft By Team Board Vote
Prospect Info: - 2014 Draft - Which Sam do you prefer: Reinhart vs. Bennett

Do the search yourself to find the exciting 7 part series leading up to the draft and the thrilling 2 part series on the actual draft.

View attachment 277913

@stokes84 was right about LD, that guy propped him up all year and he got flamed about it. He was right the entire time.

 

[FloridaSabresFan]

Wasn't there major problems with Draisaitl''s skating its why he wasn't ranked above Reinhart? Hindsight is always 20/20 but there is a reason for draft ranking.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Remember how good Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek looked when they joined the Sabres and how their flaws were exposed and exploited as the surrounding talent left? What do Reinhart and Eichel have supporting them? The tank broke the back of this team. It ripped out the core and replaced them with bums. It's never recovered. We still only have one scoring line. Now we talk about trading for players like Stafford, Kotalik, and Pyatt . Considering the lousy developmental environment Reinhart has done quite well.

Drury
Briere
Connolly
Dumont
Pominville
Afinogenov
Kotalik
Hecht
Grier
Gaustad
Stafford
Pyatt

This is partially true. The Sabres have had time to rebuild lineup since tank, hasn't happened. Reinhart is very much like Roy. He's okay but can't really drive a ton of offense on his own. He's a not a top 25 NHL player, not even top 50. Likely not even top 75. We will pay him $8-$9 M for eight years and won't get a great star.

 

[jc17]

I liked draisaitl a lot, but I also liked Bennett so I was batting .500 and can't really fault the reinhart pick.

 

[WeDislikeEich]

I think the Fans would have lost their minds if the Sabres picked Draisaitl over one of the Sams (not that it really would have mattered). It seemed like just about everyone wanted a Sam. I remember, because I took a lot of crap for saying I wanted Draisaitl. I felt he was the better scorer and I thought that’s what buffalo needed more.

Hindsight is 20-20 though. Reinhart was pretty much universally ranked higher than Draisaitl. Iirc, the best Draisaitl was ranked was #3 and in most cases I believe he was #4, behind Bennett.

 

[EichHart]

I think the Fans would have lost their minds if the Sabres picked Draisaitl over one of the Sams (not that it really would have mattered). It seemed like just about everyone wanted a Sam. I remember, because I took a lot of crap for saying I wanted Draisaitl. I felt he was the better scorer and I thought that’s what buffalo needed more.

Hindsight is 20-20 though. Reinhart was pretty much universally ranked higher than Draisaitl. Iirc, the best Draisaitl was ranked was #3 and in most cases I believe he was #4, behind Bennett.

2014 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings

 

[Fezzy126]

I try not to let short international tourneys affect my opinion too much, but I remember downgrading Drai because of it - he was absolutely terrible at the WJCs in his draft year. His skating was also a concern, but so was Reinhart's.

Overall I don't view the pick as some egregious mistake, Reinhart has become the exact player I thought he would (minus the fact that I thought he would play center). He was absolutely the safest pick and he hasn't disappointed.

For the record I was a huge Bennett fan because of the similarities in his game to Doug Gilmour and I thought he had the highest upside.

 

[FloridaSabresFan]

2014 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings

3 out out of 4 not bad. The one that didn't have him had Sam Bennett as second. Says something.

 

[paulmm3]

I love ripping on people in our organization when they screw up as much as the next beaten down Sabres fan, but this is not one of those issues. Drafting Sam at #2 was the correct decision with the information that was available at the time

 

[pigpen65]

What do Reinhart and Eichel have supporting them?

I don't understand why you are including Reinhart here. Reinhart can produce when he's with Eichel. Just like everybody else. Pominville had 16 goals last year playing with Eichel. The failure of the Reinhart pick is that the Sabres had first choice of every single forward available and they ended up with a guy who needs to be carried. He can't even play the position he was drafted as. The Sabres needed that picl to be a supporter, not a supported.

 

[ijuka]

This is stupid. EVERY mock draft from every scout & insider in hockey had Ek, Samson & Sam ahead of Draisaitl. THIS IS NOT A SABRES SCOUTING DEPT OR ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUE.

So basically, they can't make their own decisions? Know who EVERY mock draft from every scout % insider in hockey didn't have going #7 in 2011? Mark Scheifele. Did it mean that Jets weren't allowed to pick him on the spot? No.

 

[explore]

I don't understand why you are including Reinhart here. Reinhart can produce when he's with Eichel. Just like everybody else. Pominville had 16 goals last year playing with Eichel. The failure of the Reinhart pick is that the Sabres had first choice of every single forward available and they ended up with a guy who needs to be carried. He can't even play the position he was drafted as. The Sabres needed that picl to be a supporter, not a supported.

I agree with this. I also agree with posters saying that Reinhart needs to be given the opportunity to play center for an extended period. I don't completely disagree with how Reinhart is being brought along since he's improved on his point totals every year since he entered the league, but he's a complimentary player when he should be more.

It doesn't make sense to me why Reinhart can't be tried at center when guys like Rodrigues, Johannson, and Mittelstadt are. Maybe Reinhart doesn't want to play center and would prefer to play on Eichel's wing? I could see Reinhart demanding that if he's looking to max out his scoring potential and his contract, but it would benefit the team more for him to develop into a competent center--even if it means he scores less.

 

[Shnooks]

Hindsight is 20/20...at the time Reinhart was a can't miss center prospect.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Drafting very very good players instead of a franchise player will never be the misses you regret.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

If they ever tried to give him a shot at center, he could have been just as valuable. Guess we’ll never know. I can’t recall a player whose characteristics were so suited for center vs. winger but never got a real shot there. The position was so natural for him.

He had multiple stints at centre -- he's not good enough. Plus, he's horrible at faceoffs. Overall, a good player but will never be great.

 

[BFLO]

If memory serves the general HF boards consensus for #2 in the 2014 draft was something like 45% Reinhart, 35% Bennet, 15% Drai and 5% other.

There was a lot of speculation that one of the Sams would go first earlier on in the season, but by the time the draft arrived it was assumed Ekblad would go first.

 

[enthusiast]

Florida, Buffalo, and Calgary would all be better off with Draisaitl at current, but very few saw that coming. Shouts out stokes