Up until the draft I will be putting out 20 NHL Draft Prospects in 20 days. I will be certain to cover all the top guys but also some players that can be had in later rounds. I will end up with a mock draft the day before the draft. If you missed any of the prospects, click the ARCHIVE link above to find what you have missed.
In hockey you have famous families like the Sutters and Staals. There is a new family that is trying to recreate the collective success of those families. The Reinhart family is making a bid to be that next revered family. Patriarch of the Reinharts is Paul Reinhart who racked up 648 regular season games and 82 playoff games in the NHL with the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. His oldest son, Max, was drafted in 2010 by the Flames 64th overall. His youngest son Sam is a highly regarded forward that is eligible for the draft in 2014. Now the middle boy is ready for the entry draft who's looking to be drafted higher than his father who was taken 12th overall. Griffin Reinhart has taken a few tricks from is dad along with some of his own and looks like he could best his dad on draft day.
“My dad has been a big help for my career,” the hulking Edmonton Oil King defenseman said to NHL.com. “They played a NHL classic game between him and Flames and Oilers. Actually, that's my first time seeing him (play). Pretty neat seeing how we even made the same mistakes.”
There are a lot of people that see similarities between both father and son but the big difference is that Griffin drank his milk and took his vitamins because at 6'4” he towers over his 5'11” father.
“A towering defenseman who has developed into one of the premier defenseman available for this year’s NHL Entry Draft,” HockeyProspect.com said in their NHL Draft Black Book. “Reinhart has really improved his skating and offensive skills, and combined with his great defensive game and size, he has really caught our attention and moved up in our rankings.”
Reinhart is the only player in the draft with the same combination of his size, offensive skill and hockey IQ. He has a huge shot and can quarterback the power play as he did this season for the Oil King. He put up 12 goals this year and five came with the man advantage.
“He's got that good offensive instincts and a strong game with the puck,” director of Central Scouting Dan Marr said. “But he's also able to play that size strength game where he can physically defend in his own zone.”
In a draft where 15 or more defenseman could go in the first round of the NHL draft, to be in the running as the first blue liner taken says something. Ryan Murray looks to be in the lead and Reinhart along with Jacob Trouba are also in the running.
Reinhart's game is getting comparisons to Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators which matches up pretty similar. Both are physical defenseman that can take the top forwards out of the game and both possess booming cannons from the point.
The one downfall for Reinhart is his skating. He has improved this season to make himself an adequate skater but will always have struggles with speedy forwards. He will continually have to work on his skating to stay at a level needed for the NHL but his hockey sense makes up for a lot of what he lacks in speed.
“Like NHL teams I love the players that ooze hockey smarts,” Director of Scouting for HockeyProspect.com Mark Edwards stated. “Griffin is a player with a high hockey IQ. When I watch the intelligence he shows on the ice, along with poise and his natural physical tools, it’s easy to rank him with the top players in this draft class. I see a kid with huge upside based on size, skill and smarts. I have gone back and forth between Griffin and Ryan Murray since Christmas. Can I call it a tie?”
In a draft that by all accounts is sub-par in high end talent, NHL teams are looking for players that have the best chance to make an impact on their organization. There is no Drew Doughty's in this draft. So teams want players that have stacked the odds in their favor and Reinhart has with size, intelligence, booming shot and having NHL bloodlines doesn't hurt either. Whether Reinhart can be a top pairing defenseman in the future may be up for debate but to pencil him as a more than solid second pairing defenseman that can help your power play is more than reasonable.
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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