George Richards, FHN Publisher
On the day Claude Giroux was introduced as the newest member of the Florida Panthers, he gushed about what a great situation he was walking into.
Giroux, long the leading scorer of the Philadelphia Flyers, did not have to carry that burden around on a team as loaded with talent as the Panthers are.
Sam Reinhart knows the feeling.
When it comes to scoring options in Florida, Reinhart is right near the top.
Giroux is as well.
But the Panthers have so many different ways to beat their opponents, players such as Reinhart and Giroux are free to do their thing.
It is a pretty nice place to be — and a pretty easy place to play.
While everyone wants to be ‘The Guy,’ sometimes it is nice to know you don’t have to be every single night. The Panthers have a lot of players who can carry the load at any given moment.
“It is a lot of fun to be a part of it,” said Reinhart, who scored the game-winning goal in Florida’s win at Montreal on Thursday night.
“You can conserve a lot of energy throughout the year and feel that much better much more often. When you have this many guys producing, it just takes pressure off of everyone.’’
The Panthers acquired Reinhart over the summer in a trade with the scoring-deficient Buffalo Sabres and it has paid of for both Florida and for Reinhart.
With the Sabres last season, Reinhart was their offense for much of the season after Jack Eichel got hurt.
Playing in 54 games last year, Reinhart had one of his biggest seasons of his career with 25 goals and 40 points.
Through 60 games this season, he has 24 goals and 61 points.
Reinhart is currently a goal away from tying his career-high set in 2017-18 and last year; he is four points away from tying his career-best set in 2018-19. He has 19 games left to hit those career-bests — something he could do before the weekend is out.
While his numbers have been great, it is unlikely he will lead the Panthers in scoring or in goals this season.
And he is most definitely not complaining.
”We are obviously really fortunate and lucky to have as many good players as we do,” coach Andrew Brunette said. “At times, it takes some selflessness and we have exhibited that all year. We don’t care who scores. Everyone feels good. It’s a great trait from our group in that we’re all happy no matter who scores.
“They have been a treat to be around because of that.”
In Buffalo last year, his numbers were miles apart from his teammates.
Reinhart’s 40 points last season led the Sabres by eight — and his 25 goals accounted for 19 percent of all goals scored by his team.
This season, Reinhart is on the highest-scoring team in the NHL, the Panthers’ 4.06 goals-per-game almost double what the Sabres averaged last season.
Of all of the goals Florida has scored this season, Reinhart has accounted for nine percent of his team’s total.
”It speaks volumes about our group that we can play him on any line and that line is going to generate offense,” Brunette said. “Again, we’re very lucky to have that kind of depth. He is such a intelligent player. He fits in anywhere — and makes plays. He is probably one of the highest-IQ guys I have ever been around. He is having a terrific season.’’
At the trade deadline, Florida added to their embarrassment of riches by adding Giroux to a forward group already headlined by the likes of Reinhart, Jonathan Huberdeau, Sasha Barkov, Sam Bennett, Anthony Duclair …
Ok, we will stop now.
“It’s great to get that added boost,” Reinhart said. “It has been great and that’s what I noticed at training camp and it’s what the guys coming in are noticing now.
“This is a great group to be a part of. It’s kind of surreal.”
UP NEXT FOR THE FLORIDA PANTHERS
FLORIDA PANTHERS AT OTTAWA SENATORS