Sam Reinhart has been one of the most reliable players to wear a Buffalo Sabres uniform over the last six seasons.
The 25-year-old forward has appeared in 445 games out of a possible 453 games, scoring 134 goals and amassing 160 assists for 294 points in that span. Reinhart has reached the 20-goal mark in five of those six seasons in Buffalo, and has consistently been a playmaker on a team that has missed the playoffs for 10-straight seasons.
This past season was another good year for Reinhart, matching a career-high 25 goals and adding 15 assists for 40 points in 54 games. His goals and point total led the Sabres in both categories during the 56-game 2020-21 campaign. If the Sabres were playing a full 82-game schedule this season, that would have put Reinhart at a 59-point pace over 80 games, with 37 of those points being goals.
However, despite leading the team in scoring and personally having an overall successful season, Reinhart was in no mood for any optimism on Monday after the Sabres finished in last place for the fourth time eight seasons.
"Right now, just finishing another season, it's more just disappointment on the forefront and the mind," Reinhart said during his end-of-season Zoom conference call. "It's almost tougher this year for me personally feeling good towards the end of the year, and feeling like my game was in a good place. To not be playing any meaningful games down the stretch and into the playoffs is definitely disappointing right now.
"Not really looking to be in the business of just being in games."
After the loss of captain Jack Eichel due to injury in early March, Reinhart jumped into more of a leadership role on the team. This included a shift back to center, where he played most of his earlier days before making the shift to right wing in the NHL.
In his time playing down the middle, Reinhart really handled the workload well, showing that maybe a long-term future could be in the works for him back at center.
Reinhart does not believe that the team made a mistake not playing him more at center over the last few years.
"The way our roster shaped over the last couple months, it made it easier and more of an obvious choice. I really like the challenge, I really embraced it and had a lot of fun with it," Reinhart said. "I'm not going back to years past thinking that it should have [different]. I felt comfortable with where I was, and it was probably a time best for me to be on the wing just looking at how our roster shaped up and who's playing with who. I really liked the challenge this year, and felt really comfortable being back in a position where I spent my whole life until I got into the league."
Interim head coach Don Granato was the one who trusted Reinhart to be able to make the move back to center, and when he saw that the veteran was able to handle being back down the middle, he saw no need to shift him back to the wing.
Reinhart thought that Granato did well under the circumstances he had to deal with when taking over the interim duties back on March 17. However, it was still disappointing that the team needed another shakeup to the organization such as this in an attempt to turn the season around.
"It's not an easy situation making that change," Reinhart said. "We were going through some pretty tough times. It's unfortunate that in this business, you almost need a reset. It's unfortunate for me being here how often that reset is."
As for what the future holds for Reinhart, he is set to be a restricted free agent for the third time in his NHL career. The first two times saw Reinhart sign bridge-type contracts to prove what he can bring to the Sabres, while also providing a lower salary cap hit.
While that has helped Buffalo with managing their money on the roster, it now puts Reinhart in a spot where he can sign another one-year deal before he is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent, free to sign wherever he so chooses. Not only that, but for the organization to continue to only want to sign him to short-term deals has, perhaps, left Reinhart jaded in feeling the team does not believe in his abilities on and off the ice.
Plus, with the team missing the playoffs for a 10th-consecutive season, more significant changes are likely on the horizon as the Sabres try to finally find the right mix to break the playoff drought. That potential of another shakeup and rebuild is something that Reinhart did not seem to want any part of going forward.
"No one wants to go through a rebuild, especially going into next year, turning 26 at the start of it or close to the start of it," Reinhart said. "It's tough not being able to play meaningful games down the stretch. I don't think anyone wants to go through that now."
As for the possibility of a next contract with the Sabres, Reinhart is going to let the card fall where they may this offseason, and he trusts that things will sort themselves out come the start of the 2021-22 season.
"In terms of the future, I don't really have much for you right now. We're going to take some time, and that stuff's all going to get figured out when the time comes."
In case you missed Reinhart's end-of-season conference call, you can listen to it in its entirety below: