Buffalo Sabres must keep Vinnie Hinostroza in the lineup
Vinnie Hinostroza was supposed to be nothing more than an extra skater for the Buffalo Sabres for the 2022-23 season. So far, he’s been a scoring machine.
Vinnie Hinostroza stepped into the Buffalo Sabres lineup when head coach Don Granato decided to make rookie winger Jack Quinn a healthy scratch. And thus far, Hinostroza’s presence has paid dividends, with four points in two games.
To augment the argument of keeping Hinostroza in the lineup, we also need to look at not only his production, but that of the entire Dylan Cozens line, which also contains J.J. Peterka. In Tuesday night’s big win over the Edmonton Oilers, Hinostroza, Cozens, and Peterka combined for three points – one goal and two assists.
Last night, they scored a combined five points, with Hinostroza providing an assist on Dylan Cozens’ goal. Both Hinostroza and Peterka assisted Rasmus Dahlin’s record-breaking score at the 10:49 mark in the first period.
If the Buffalo Sabres keep winning Hinostroza must remain in lineup
The one knock on Hinostroza is that he is one of the older players on the ice at 28. Keeping him in the lineup means fewer reps for Jack Quinn, who has watched the previous two games from the press box.
But the Sabres, 3-1-0, are winning for the time being. And while many, myself included, stated W’s and L’s shouldn’t be the primary focus for 2022-23, things change after these heavy underdogs upset two perennial playoff contenders in the Western Conference, outscoring them 10-5 in the process. In both outings, Hinostroza was on the ice making plays.
The golden rule is that, when winning, you go with the hot hand. So unless the Sabres fall back to Earth, head coach Don Granato needs to keep Hinostroza in the lineup.
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Sure, you ideally want to see Quinn out there. But if he’s hurting a winning team, there is no way you can justify playing the rookie. If the Sabres continue to win, reassigning Quinn to Rochester so he can get some in-game reps is also an option.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)