Player Discussion Sam Reinhart - Is he the real deal?

OkimLom

Registered User
May 3, 2010
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Fans in offseason: "Give him a bridge and make him earn the big bucks and longer contract"

Gets Bridge

Reinhart currently "earning" a higher pay scale much like Skinner is

Fans on 26 year old Skinner: "He's going to be paid the big bucks and we shouldn't let him leave"

Fans on 23 year old Reinhart: "No way he gets big money, he's only doing that because of Eichel" (you know, like Skinner)

It's an interesting perspective reading the boards, as a Reinhart fan.

Reinhart is earning an increased pay, something, that most likely was reason for Botts to give the Bridge, but now that he is actually earning it being a 1st line winger, now fans don't want to pay him his money, and the reason they say is because he's a product of Eichel (which is funny because Eichel hasn't assisted on a Reinhart goal since end of November (11-30). Meanwhile, Reinhart has assisted on 7 (5 of them primary) of Eichel's 10 goals since.

Not sure there's another fanbase that would be so frugal to a player that has shown now in 3 seasons to have immense chemistry with their superstar/franchise player, especially one that is young like Reinhart. Not to mention, that we have a winger that you could slide down the roster and make players better (see Reinhart with Sheary and Mittelstadt). We definitely don't want a guy we can trust to provide quality play outside the 1st line but can slide up.
 

Sabresfansince1980

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There are also fans that lean toward keeping Skinner at as low a cap hit as possible (8-8.5 mil), and also are happy that Reinhart is doing well and hope he gets a long-term contract in the 6.5-7.5 mil range. But I am SOO HAPPY we have another Reinhart thread to generalize other opinions and argue about those over generalizations.
 

EichHart

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Jul 3, 2011
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So, does that logic apply to Skinner?

No because Skinner was one of the best 5 v 5 scorers in the NHL playing with scrubs in Carolina. This is the first time in his career playing with a good NHL caliber center. Anyone who watches both Reinhart and skinner play can easily see who the better player is. Skinner is faster, better shot, better along the boards, his skating is incredible. Small sample size but he’s carried play on his own these last two games without Eichel.
 

jestss

Registered User
Jan 28, 2018
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Reinhart is earning an increased pay, something, that most likely was reason for Botts to give the Bridge, but now that he is actually earning it being a 1st line winger, now fans don't want to pay him his money, and the reason they say is because he's a product of Eichel (which is funny because Eichel hasn't assisted on a Reinhart goal since end of November (11-30). Meanwhile, Reinhart has assisted on 7 (5 of them primary) of Eichel's 10 goals since.

Since the end of November Reinhart has also only had two goals when Eichel wasn't injured, so it's not exactly like he's had an abundance of opportunity to assist.

Why not just use the stats for the season? Eichel has 4 assists (all primary) on Reinhart's 9 goals, or around 44% of all the assists he could possibly have for Reino's goals. Reinhart has 8 assists (6 primary) on Jack's 15, so around 53% total, or 40% primaries. Close to the same proportion of impact on each other's goals.

No need to cherry pick stats to prove Reinhart's worth when his play this year can speak for itself, even if some people refuse to see it. Both he and Skinner should and will get paid (hopefully a little less than what they deserve, if Botts can work some magic).
 

HaNotsri

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Dec 29, 2013
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Reinhart is my favourite player but he will be a RFA. If he scores 70+ this season and next - give the man his money. Right now 6.5 for rfa seasons and 7.5 for ufa seems fair.

He’s not on Skinner level yet but he has a skillset that we really need. Nylander has a caphit of 6.9 right? And he’s been a lot better not counting the current season...

I’d like to see Reinhart on both PP1 and PP2 unless he’s too tired. His screens are the best I’ve seen since Thörnberg was in his prime. Let the other guys work and then he can glide in front of the goalie at the exact moment. It’s like a perfect stroke from a brush.
 

HogtownSabresfan

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Jan 13, 2010
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Reinhart is my favourite player but he will be a RFA. If he scores 70+ this season and next - give the man his money. Right now 6.5 for rfa seasons and 7.5 for ufa seems fair.

He’s not on Skinner level yet but he has a skillset that we really need. Nylander has a caphit of 6.9 right? And he’s been a lot better not counting the current season...

I’d like to see Reinhart on both PP1 and PP2 unless he’s too tired. His screens are the best I’ve seen since Thörnberg was in his prime. Let the other guys work and then he can glide in front of the goalie at the exact moment. It’s like a perfect stroke from a brush.

That's why you move him off Eichel's line, Let's see what he can do on his own and pay based on that!
 

Moskau

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Jun 30, 2004
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Anyone who watches both Reinhart and skinner play can easily see who the better player is. Skinner is faster, better shot, better along the boards, his skating is incredible. Small sample size but he’s carried play on his own these last two games without Eichel.

Apparently you aren't one of them.

Eichel benefits from playing with Reinhart just as much as Reinhart benefits from Eichel. This has been proven every season they have been in the league. And if you're going to keep moving goal posts with 5v5 scoring then you need to admit that Skinner is better than Eichel too because Eichel wasn't exactly incredible at even strength his first 3 seasons in the league either. You've already replied in another thread that Reinhart's PPG pace without Eichel last season doesn't count because not enough of it was at even strength.
 
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Zman5778

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Oct 4, 2005
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Anyone who watches both Reinhart and skinner play can easily see who the better player is. Skinner is faster, better shot, better along the boards, his skating is incredible. Small sample size but he’s carried play on his own these last two games without Eichel.

Skinner does the flashy stuff better -- everything you mentioned. I'll disagree with the along the boards stuff. I think Reinhart is Skinner's equal in that regard.

Reinhart is a far better passer, far better vision, far better in his own zone. He makes himself available for passes more. He's elite in front of the net.

Is Skinner worth more money-wise than Reinhart? Yes, yes he is. Flash usually gets paid over substance.

Is Skinner "easily" better than Reinhart? Goodness no.
 

Zman5778

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Oct 4, 2005
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You move him away from Eichel to make the team better and not to figure out what to pay him after his current contract expires.

And that's where the debate truly lies, IMO.

Does moving Sam away from Jack REALLY make the team better? I mean, it's proven time and time again that Jack is better with Sam and Sam is better than Jack. They have that weird "thing" together and they bring the best out in each other. Is it better for the team to maximize Jack AND Sam? Or is it better to have a somewhat not-maximized Jack and Sam producing somewhat less, but on two different lines? In my opinion, you keep Jack and Sam together and try to cobble together SOME form of secondary scoring until Mitts is ready to really become that 2nd line center.

If anything -- IMO -- what Eichel's absence has shown is that Skinner can drive his own line. Maybe Skinner can bring out the best in Mitts, given that Mitts has some characteristics of both Jack and Sam?
 

Snippit

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Dec 5, 2012
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Both.

FWIW I've always thought the Eichel-Reinhart chemistry is overstated. Reinhart is a lot more assertive when he's not playing with Jack.

This is true.

Skinner-Eichel-Thompson
Nylander-Mitts-Reinhart

In my ideal world that is how I hope it turns out in the future.
 

Fezzy126

Rebuilding...
May 10, 2017
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Apparently you aren't one of them.

Eichel benefits from playing with Reinhart just as much as Reinhart benefits from Eichel. This has been proven every season they have been in the league. And if you're going to keep moving goal posts with 5v5 scoring then you need to admit that Skinner is better than Eichel too because Eichel wasn't exactly incredible at even strength his first 3 seasons in the league either. You've already replied in another thread that Reinhart's PPG pace without Eichel last season doesn't count because not enough of it was at even strength.

Not this season it hasn't. I'm not interested in getting into a Jack vs Sam (vs Skinner) pissing match because I love all players, but Reinhart makes Eichel worse by almost every statistical metric this year (I've posted the numbers on many occasions). It's one of the reasons I've been advocating for Sam on another line, because Jack & Jeff are fine with almost anyone riding shotgun, while Sam can drive even the Sobotka's of the world to positive production.
 

Icicle

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Oct 16, 2005
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Both.

FWIW I've always thought the Eichel-Reinhart chemistry is overstated. Reinhart is a lot more assertive when he's not playing with Jack.
I wholeheartedly agree. It's why I'd split them up. What Reinhart 'adds' to the first line is not helping this team as much as what he adds to other lines-- like actually making Sobotka a positive corsi player.
 

Moskau

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Jun 30, 2004
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Both.

FWIW I've always thought the Eichel-Reinhart chemistry is overstated. Reinhart is a lot more assertive when he's not playing with Jack.
It's overstated if you look at the league as a whole. The plays they make with Skinner are plays you should expect good NHL players to be able to make with 5 or 6 guys on their team. On a team where you're icing over 2 lines worth of guys whose entire purpose is to take 30-45 seconds off the clock without being scored on that becomes hard to do. They have some nice neutral zone and behind the net plays with each other but the majority of their "chemistry" comes from them being 2 out of the 3 forwards on the team that can make or receive a pass. Guys like Kucherov and Point can go out on any given night and have that kind of "chemistry" with half their team. Eichel on the other hand? You get Sam or Jeff. Good luck with anyone else.

And most would agree with Sam being more assertive without Jack on his line. I know it's an observation some made even 2 years ago. Is there a stat for how many shots someone takes from more than 5 feet from the goalie? I would imagine that number is much higher for Reinhart when he's away from Jack than when he's with him. He tries to make the second move to feed Eichel a tap in far too many times.
 
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