Does Reinhart Resign? (Florida)

Florida

Does Reinhart Resign?

By Matt Ross

Aug 11, 2021 • 6:57 pm

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*UPDATE*

The deal is done:

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Original Post:

The dog days of summer drag on and so does a Reinhart extension…

There was this news which is cool…

…but not the news many Cats fans are waiting for.

The Hockey Writers> has a good article on the situation. It says what we all kind of know (or assume), but with some other thoughts.

What’s working against Florida is their $7.8M in space, new deals they gave Duclair/Bennett/Verhaeghe, huge deals other teams gave top six players and then there’s the biggest…having to resign Barky.

All these things factor in to be a tricky situation for Zito and there could be potential ramifications if the two sides work out a big deal, which the article points out:

“Assuming Reinhart gets a massive extension this offseason, the future of the roster could look very different. Due to the massive cap hits from the current roster, Zito may scramble to get things moved around or he may be forced to let big names walk next offseason, such as Barkov and Jonathan Hurberdeau, whose contract expires after the 2022-23 season. In addition, it would also force Zito to slot in young and unproven rookies. Granted, it could be good development for them to be tossed into the fire, but some are not ready for that kind of pressure.

That is ultimately worst case scenario for Florida, but if the previous deals for Bennett and Verhaeghe tell us anything, it’s that Zito is not going to make a mistake with this deal. He knows how to handle business the way he wants to.…

While I don’t think there’s a a chance or scenerio on this planet where both Barky and Huby walk in place of Reinhart, I do think there’s a possibility of some major shuffling around if Reinhart does get a big deal.

I have faith in Zito (he seems to know what to do) and everyday that passes that there’s no arbitration talks, it’s a good thing. But my question for today is:

Are you OK with signing Reinhart to a big deal if it means potentially “damaging… the makeup of this current roster by losing some key pieces?

In reality the Cats didn’t give up a whole lot to get Reinhart. They packaged a first-round pick in the 2022 draft and goalie prospect Devon Levi. Truthfully, when I first heard about the trade, the package going to BUF made me think that there was a good chance Reinhart might not resign.

In the way of a wrestling swerve…what if that’s the play here?

Maybe Zito made the deal knowing it would be an uphill battle to resign Reinhart, but also knowing he didn’t give up a ton for him. Perhaps the plan is to get the rental services of Reinhart to round out a pretty nasty top six to help get you over the first-round playoff hump and have a legit shot at the Cup? Or…use him in a trade at some point.

There could be a lot of possibilities. Maybe Reinhart wants to be in Florida and truly does a team-friendly deal? Who knows?

I’m just ready to see how this ends.

What do you guys think happens?

By The Way

Do you guys remember the ‘Panthers Uncaged’ mini-documentary series they were pumping for a bit and then quietly “disappeared… and ran in the background of the Panthers’ season? Well, the series has won an award.

According to the Panthers website>:

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