The Buffalo Sabres did well with their No. 2 overall draft picks in both 2014 and 2015, drafting both Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel. Both, however, have flourished the minute they left Buffalo.
Former Sabre Sam Reinhart hoisted his second straight Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers, and it is making fans question this trade from a few years ago.
The Sabres gave up Reinhart for Devon Levi and a first-round pick, which turned out to be Jiri Kulich. Now, when you look back at it, the trade was questionable, but now this puts a lot of pressure on Levi and Kulich moving forward.
Reinhart became a 50-goal scorer in the 2023-24 season and became an all-star as well for Florida in the same season, the first of his career. Reinhart has now captured his second straight Stanley Cup with the Panthers and is looking to turn them into a dynasty.
Reinhart put away four goals in the dominant clincher. It's the first four-goal game in the Stanley Cup Finals since Maurice Richard in 1957. Reinahart always showed a lot of potential in Buffalo, but it is safe to say the Sabres fumbled with this one.
Even if Kulich pans out to be a great player, I don’t think he will reach the skill level of Reinhart and be able to give back to Buffalo the same way Reinhart has given back to Florida. I also think Levi can be a great goalie, but altogether it won’t amount to what Reinhart has accomplished.
Levi has started slow in his career with the Sabres, but ultimately, it takes a few years for a goalie to adjust to the NHL level. I think Levi can be a solid goalie for the Sabres, but won’t be anything special.
Kulich and Levi can make the Sabres a better team and ultimately change the culture of the Sabres, but they have lost this trade in my eyes, and many others. The Sabres made out pretty well in the Jack Eichel trade, getting Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, Noah Ostlund, and trading for Jordan Greenway with the second-round pick in that deal.
But many analysts and fans say they lost the deal the minute Eichel won a cup, and I feel the same way about Reinhart here when he captured his first cup last year. The Sabres missed out on a stud in Reinhart, and it is a trade that will leave fans upset for a long time.