Buffalo Sabres Roster Report: Centers
By Tim Redinger
Photo Courtesy of 5of7: Flickr Creative Commons
player. 12. It isn’t a lock that he will even be on the roster, but you might as well use him now and let him learn the program. A number two pick that is NHL ready, but not top six forward material just yet.. C. Canada. Sam Reinhart. 2
Many fans of the Buffalo Sabres might disagree with me here as well, hoping that Sam Reinhart will be ready to play first line minutes in the National Hockey League from the go. And he just might be able to. Or the organization could deem him back to the juniors for one more season.
You can’t really lose anything by letting Reinhart dominate in the CHL for one more season. He has the eligibility – and you extend his entry level deal out for another season by only keeping him in Buffalo for the ten game tryout to get a real good look at him in a Buffalo Sabres sweater.
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But then again – why wait. If he proves that he can handle in training camp and he holds his own in the preseason contests which are nothing more than glorified scrimmages; then you make him your number two center. There is no harm in making him your number two center until he builds his strength up to the NHL requisites. There will be plenty of time to groom Sam Reinhart for the number one position, and if you are going to keep Grigorenko around, there is no harm in letting him take first line minutes this year.
Sam Reinhart is going to dazzle regardless of where you play him, as long as you don’t hand him third and fourth line wingers and expect him to produce like a top line center.