Editor’s note: Vegas finally has a roster. It’s time to get excited. We will be introducing you to these new Golden Knights players.
The Vegas Golden Knights are not the first to take a chance on Griffin Reinhart, but after selecting him from the Edmonton Oilers in the expansion draft, hopefully they will be rewarded for it.
Scouting Report
The 6-foot-4 defenseman was drafted fourth overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft ahead of Morgan Rielly, Hampus Lindholm, Jacob Trouba, and Matt Dumba.
The scouting report on Reinhart said he was skilled at both ends of the ice — a strong player with room to grow, defensively responsible and skates well given him size.
This upside has yet to be consistent.
He was drafted by the New York Islanders but was traded a few seasons later to the Oilers prior to the 2015 draft.
For whatever reason, he has yet to put it all together and stick at the NHL level. This is what led the Oilers to leave the 23-year-old prospect exposed in the expansion draft.
Numbers, numbers, numbers
He has played just 37 games in the NHL since being drafted and has managed just two assists in that time.
His analytics, even factoring in the small sample, are not very promising. He has managed a 43.18 Goals For percentage, and a 45.96 Corsi For percentage. His 59.94 Corsi Against per 60 is problematic.
If we were to rank him over the last three seasons with a minimum of 550 minutes played (281 qualified defensemen) he would rank 249th in GF%, 250th in CF%, and 251st in CA/60.
Verdict
Reinhart has potential. This much we know.
What we do not know is if he will ever be able to put it all together and be worthy of a former first-round pick. He will likely get playing time on the Golden Knights, and maybe putting him next to a possession forward offensive defenseman will help.
He will have some time to prove himself, for a couple seasons at least, but considering other defensemen (Brayden McNabb, Colin Miller, Nate Schmidt, Luca Sbisa) and the ones coming up (Erik Brannstrom, Shea Theodore, and Nicolas Hague) Reinhart will need to find a niche at the NHL level quickly or else find himself washed out of a third organisation.
And that could just be the death blow to a once promising career.