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Rein & Shine

November 21, 2017, 2:12 PM ET [16 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Updated:






Here is the new Buffalo Sabres Winter Classic 2018.

She’s a beauty!


The Sabres should petition the NHL to make this tarp their full time, permanent sweater!









**

In 82 games, the Buffalo Sabres finished last overall in the NHL standings. Ted Nolan’s tanking Sabres were pathetic. They posted an abysmal 21- 51-10 record and earned only 52 points.
That vintage Sabres roster set franchise-low totals in goal differential with a -91 (157 goals for, 248 goals against).

It gives me a Slurpee headache to reflect on that wretched season. Nothing went right for the Sabres. Nothing at all. The games were dreadful. The wind chills were sub-zero and arctic. I had to give myself pep talks to summon the courage and strength to walk from the arena, across the wind-swept frozen tundra to my car after games.

That season was historically bad and unlike anything I had ever seen before.

When the Buffalo Sabres lost the lottery and missed out on drafting defensemen Aaron Ekblad first overall at the 2014 NHL Draft, then GM Tim Murray selected center Samson Reinhart from the Kootenay Ice with the second overall pick.

The fresh-faced Reinhart was a needed addition to the roster as the Sabres has paper-thin depth on their center ice depth chart.

At the time, the Reinhart selection gave Murray a legitimate contender to assume the number one center role in Buffalo. To Murray, Cody Hodgson, Tyler Ennis and Zemgus Girgensons were decent center men. But they weren’t true number one centers. Murray quickly hitched his wagon to Reinhart in the hopes that the youngster would blossom into a dominant center capable of playing both sides of the puck while scoring 60-70 points per season.

Murray’s line of thinking lasted only a few months. Reinhart was sent back to junior to work on building his core strength and skating. Murray and his lieutenants then set the organizational sights on tanking for a generational center in Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel who were there for the picking at the top of the 2015 NHL Draft board.

With Reinhart lighting up the WHL scoring race in Kootenay, the Sabres proceeded to stink up the joint, like never before. Murray was obsessed with the idea of selecting on of the two superstar centermen with the first overall pick. The more they lost, the better their odds improved to win the NHL Draft Lottery. And lose they did! I was there. I saw it with my own two eyes. In 2014-15, Buffalo finished with an atrocious 23-51-8 (54 points). In the end, the sad sack Sabres scored just 161 goals and allowed 274 goals against ( -113 differential).
Murray’s tanking plan nearly came to fruition. Nearly. “Almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. For a second season in a row, Murray finished with the silver medal in the loser Olympics. In other words, he lost the #1 pick at the NHL Draft Lottery. No Ekblad. No McDavid. No worries. However, winning the opportunity to select Samson Reinhart and Jack Eichel with the second overall pick at consecutive NHL Drafts did not hurt the Sabres at all. In fact, the addition of the two centers helped accelerate Buffalo’s rebuild. The Sabres would finish 23rd overall in 2015-16 and 26th overall in 2016-17. Each time, they earned the eighth overall selection at the NHL Draft Lottery. With the 8th overall pick in 2015-16, Murray selected Swedish sniping forward Alex Nylander. When Murray was canned last April, Jason Botterill assumed the Buffalo GM duties and selected Minnesota’s “Mr. Hockey” in sniping forward Casey Mittelstadt with the 8th overall pick.

Adding offensive-minded young guns Reinhart, Eichel, Nylander and Mittelstadt to a mature core of veteran players that includes Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane, Kyle Okposo, Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Ristolainen, Zach Bogosian, and Jake McCabe dramatically improved their depth and skill.

At the quarter pole of the NHL marathon season schedule, the Sabres find themselves in a familiar predicament. The “rebuilt” Sabres find themselves in 30th place in the NHL standings with a disappointing 5-12-4 record after 21 games played.

The chronic losing was supposed to be a relegated to the landfill once Tim Murray and Dan Bylsma were given pink slips. Jason Botterill and Phil Housley were supposed to shepherd the revamped Sabres into the winning ways, the better days.
What’s wrong with the Sabres?

Reinhart is not a top six centerman in Buffalo. Earlier this season, Housley gave the kid a good long look at pivot on the third line. Reinhart is never going to unseat Jack Eichel nor Ryan O’Reilly as a top two center with the Sabres. Reinhart is a decent center. He’s a more productive winger and net front man on the power play.

Next season, Eichel’s 8-year, $80 million contract will be activated. O’Reilly is in year two of a seven-year, $52.5 million that carries a $7.5M AAV. Botterill now has $17.5A AAV committed to his two top centers in Eichel and O’Reilly. Reinhart will be a restricted free agent when his entry level deal expires on July 1. Rather than sign Reinhart to a long-term extension last summer, Botterill declined and said he needed a season to evaluate Reinhart. Not a good sign for Reinhart who seemingly feels like he has earned a new long-term contract at an average commensurate with the top young centers in the game today.

Reinhart has a point.

Did you know that only four other players from his 2014 NHL Draft class have scored more points than Reinhart?

In 188 NHL games in a Buffalo uniform, Reinhart has scored 44 goals and 55 assists.

Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl has scored 151 points (55 goals) in 207 career games played.

Boston’s David Patrnak has scored 140 points (69 goals) in 191 games played.

Winnipeg’s Nikolai Ehlers has scored 115 points (48 goals) in 174 games played.

Florida’s Aaron Ekblad has scored 104 points (40 goals) in 247 career games played.

Reinhart is going to be looking for a long-term deal next July. Botterill and the Sabres may only be willing to give Reinhart a 2-3 year “show me” bridge deal.
It makes sense for Botterill to test for echo on a Reinhart trade.

The way I see it, Phil Houlsey’s blue line is his team’s fatal flaw. Ill-timed serious injuries to top four defenders have taken their toll on Housley’s blue line to the point that he has had to play 2-3 AHL defensemen on a nightly basis. Zach Bogosian, Rasmus Ristolainen, Josh Gorges and Nathan Beaulieu have undermined the Buffalo D corps in the first seven weeks of the season. Bogosian has played in a game yet this season. He started skating on his own last week and may be returning in the near future. Ristolainen has missed the past nine games with an undisclosed, week-to-week injury. The Sabres have given up 74 goals against to the 48 goals they have scored. Their minus 26 goal differential tells you all you need to know. The Sabres spend far too much time in their own end of the barn. Their D often times get overwhelmed by opposing forecheckers forcing their break out passes to miss their intended targets. D-zone turnovers have become nightly occurrences for the Buffalo blue line.

If Botterill is serious about re-tooling his blue line on the fly, he will give serious thought to trading Reinhart to a contending team. Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Columbus, Arizona and Anaheim have been scouting the Sabres for the past couple of weeks. Several teams have a need for a veteran center-winger who can score at even strength and play the power play. Botterill can trade Reinhart and address his blue line deficiencies in a big way.

Calgary has young D in Tyler Wotherspoon, who has scored 10 points in his first 15 games of the season in AHL Stockton. Wotherspoon (6’1” and 210 lbs.) is a top-10 defensive point getter in the AHL this season while his +11 rating is tied for third among AHL defencemen. The Flames also have 2014 fourth overall pick Sam Bennett, who in 179 career games has scored 32 goals and 34 assists for 66 points. Bennett sees himself as a top six center, however is being played as a third line winger.

The Flames don’t play the Sabres until January 22, however, their GM was in Buffalo scouting in person on Monday night. Treliving and Botterill could be working on a mutually beneficial trade. Reinhart and second rounder for Wotherspoon and Bennett is a possibility.

The Canucks have defensemen Ben Hutton and Chris Tanev to offer Buffalo for Reinhart, a Vancouver native.

Edmonton have been just as disappointing this season as the Sabres. With just 16 points in the NHL standings, the Oilers are struggling to keep the puck out of their own net. Peter Chiarelli is looking to add a top six forward, preferably a center. Darnell Nurse is the fleet-footed, physical D the Sabres lack on their top pair. Reinhart may be the forward that can assist Connor McDavid to right the wrongs in Edmonton. Chiarelli was also spotted in Buffalo’s press box on Monday night.

Columbus were all-in on Matt Duchene right down to the final horn. In the end, Colorado GM Joe Sakic got the seven premium pieces he demanded in exchange for Duchene. The Blue Jackets still want to add a center and they have D depth to use as currency. Ryan Murray for Samson Reinhart?




Personally, I would trade Reinhart to Columbus if and only if I can get defenseman Gabriel Carlsson, who would add immediate skill and snarl to a Buffalo blue line that is craving both attributes. Carlsson, in my opinion, is like Shea Theodore of the Vegas Knights. Theodore was stuck in AHL San Diego for two seasons when the Anaheim Ducks needed an injury call up only. Like Theodore, Carlsson is too good to play in the AHL, no roster spot in Columbus.




Could Buffalo trade Reinhart to Arizona for Oliver Ekman-Larsson? You never know. How much losing can OEL handle in Arizona? He’s been there eight years and will be UFA in July 2018-19.

Anaheim has been looking high and low for a center since captain Ryan Getzlaf was injured three weeks ago. Center Ryan Kelser is also on the injured reserve list with a long-term ailment. The Ducks are holding their own without their two premiere centers in their lineup, but they want to fortify the position to protect against future injuries. Like Columbus, Anaheim has a surplus of NHL D on the active roster.

If Botterill is serious about re-signing pending UFA Evander Kane to a long-term contract extension to stay and play with Eichel, the Sabres may have to trade Reinhart. I can’t see Botterill keeping Kane and Reinhart. It’s either one or the other.

Since joining the Buffalo Sabres, Evander Kane now has scored 60 goals. What's remarkable is that 49 of Kane's goals in a Sabres sweater have come at even strength.

Kane's goal against Columbus now gives him seven points (5G, 2A) in his last seven games.

Kane’s 12th goal of the season tied him for sixth-most in the NHL.

Over the last 2 seasons, Kane is tied for 9th in the NHL with 33 even strength goals

Evander Kane has scored 12 goals in his first 21 games played this season. It's Kane’s quickest start of his career, topping his mark of 10 goals in his first 22 games in 2011-12. Kane is now on pace to score 47 goals this season.


Since scoring his first goal of the 2016-17 season on December 3, 2016, Kane has scored 40 goals in his last 78 games.

Far and away, Kane is Buffalo's most prolific scorer since returning on November 9, 2016 from having four broken ribs. In his past 91 games played (70 last season, 21 this season), Kane leads the Sabres with 40 goals (33 5v5), 3 SHG, 5 GWG, 353 shots on goal, 133 PIMs.
Kane is a pending unrestricted free agent.

Will Jason Botterill trade Kane now for a first pair D-man and a top D prospect?
Or, will the Sabres GM open up contract discussions with Kane's agent?















__________________________________________________________________________




The Buffalo Sabres are struggling with their 5-12-4. They are in 30th place in the standings.

There is joy in Mudville after all!

On Tuesday, the Sabres teased their cranky fan base with a couple glimpses of the tean’s 2018 NHL Winter Classic sweater.

This new design is fire! Sabres fans will be getting new retro swag for Christmas.

The full uni reveal will occur on Wednesday.

Photos courtesy: @myonebuffalo app













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