Edmonton Oilers: The Case for Griffin Reinhart

When the Edmonton Oilers acquired Griffin Reinhart from the New York Islanders at the draft last June, mixed feelings immediately set in for fans.

Right now, many questions surround the 22 year old rearguard. The former 4th overall pick of the 2012 NHL Draft does carry an intriguing dose of potential, but was it worth the overpayment of forking over a valuable first round draft pick to get him? Why hasn’t he panned out in Edmonton thus far?

This season, Reinhart has split time with the Bakersfield Condors and the Oilers. In 27 games with the Condors he has 2 goals and 7 assists. With the Oil, he has played in 19 games and amassed 1 assist.

With the big club, Reinhart has underperformed in the eyes of many fans. In the games he has played in, it can be argued that he hasn’t shown much. Definitely not enough to justify the controversial trade that sent him to Edmonton.

What I see is an inexperienced, young defender trying to adjust to the speed of the NHL. At times he looks a little shaky on the backend and his foot speed isn’t exactly there. Of course you want to see him produce better offensive numbers as well. But we’ve seen what he is capable of doing as evident by his junior career with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

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There are positives to Reinhart’s play this year. He is a great first passer and is good at positioning himself defensively although I’ve noticed he gets caught pinching at bad times from time to time. Skating with the puck, he is very smooth. I’ve also seen him take more chances with offensive rushes and shoot the puck more often. If only he could capitalize on his chances. His reputation as a smart player perceives him as he definitely reads the game well. The reality is he’s not a stand out, dynamic defenseman like Erik Karlsson, but he plays smart, efficient hockey.

The only answer I have right now is he is enduring the hardships of development. In many cases, some players just take more time to blossom. Thats the way it is. Reinhart is not the first player to struggle during his development.

Thomas Hickey of the New York Islanders was drafted 4th overall in 2007 by the LA Kings. He captained Team Canada at the 2009 World Juniors in Ottawa. The hype about him was huge. He endured many years of seasoning in the minors before he became a regular NHL’er, which he finally achieved in 2012/2013. He was 23 years old at the time. Now, Hickey is an effective top 4 defender for the Isles. The Kings gave up on him. I see parallels with Reinhart because the Islanders gave up on him and now the Oilers are taking a chance on him. We could see the same ordeal with Hickey play out for Reinhart here in Edmonton.

Michael Stone was 22 years old when he became a regular on the Arizona Coyotes blue line in 2012/2013. The 3rd round pick of 2008 paid his dues in the AHL for multiple seasons before finally making it. Now he is one of the Coyotes top scoring defenders and plays a prominent role as an anchor for the top two pairings on the backend in Arizona.

Because Reinhart is a highly touted prospect with prestigious draft pedigree, the pressure for him to succeed quickly is quite high. Just ask Nail Yakupov about the pressure of being a top draft pick.

Unfortunately, Reinhart will forever be shadowed by the first round pick the Oilers sent to the Islanders that drafted blue chip prospect Mathew Barzal 16th overall in 2015.

The Sample size on Reinhart has been too small to determine any accurate assumptions on his future at this point. He needs to play more games. I don’t like how Peter Chiarelli has had him up and down all season long with the Oilers and Condors. Put him somewhere where he will play regularly. If he is in Edmonton, don’t have him in the press box every couple of games, keep him in the lineup and let him play. If he’s in Bakersfield, keep him there and let him play a prominent role with big minutes every night. He’s 22 years old for goodness sakes. That’s still very young. There is no doubt in my mind he has the impeccable size and gifted hockey IQ to play in the show.

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The most important thing to consider in moving forward with Reinhart is to be patient and play him as often as possible. Give him a fair crack. Obviously you hope a player can become great as fast as possible but there is no set timetable for a players development. Every player is different. Reinhart needs more time and a little more patience from the fans.

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