Way-Too-Early Free-Agent Landing Spots for Panthers Forward Sam Reinhart

It's been a good run for Sunshine State hockey fans.

The Gulf Coast's Tampa Bay Lightning played for titles in three straight seasons and hosted parades in 2020 and 2021, and metropolitan Miami's Florida Panthers earned the Presidents' Trophy in 2022 before advancing to the Stanley Cup Final last spring.

The first half of the 2023-24 season has gone well for both teams, too, particularly the Panthers, who are second in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference and fifth overall in the league through their first 42 games.

Helping fuel the Florida resurgence has been 28-year-old center Sam Reinhart, who was picked second overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2014 draft, came to the Panthers in July 2021, and sat among NHL leaders in goals (second, 31), points (10th, 54), and power-play goals (first, 16) through Saturday's games.

The West Vancouver native has picked a great time to have a career-best season given that the three-year, $19.5 million deal he signed a few weeks after arriving in Florida expires at the end of June, meaning the Panthers will have to ante up or risk losing him to a deep-pocketed suitor on the open market come July 1.

The B/R hockey team took a look at Reinhart's situation and the league's salary landscape and came up with a list of way-too-early landing spots for him nine months ahead of the 2024-25 season's opening-night puck drop.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments section.

The Blackhawks have a big chance to trick things out for 2024-25.

After all, they have the league's shiniest new toy in Connor Bedard and only a handful of currently rostered players still under contract for next season, leaving a boatload of cash available to bring in talent to work alongside their teenage star.

Reinhart has flourished alongside the likes of Aleksander Barkov in Florida, so it's no stretch to suggest he'd be at least tempted by the idea of joining forces with the 18-year-old in a traditional hockey city for what figures to be the remainder of his NHL prime.

Chicago entered Sunday night's games three points out of the league's overall standings basement and surely in line for another lottery pick, so it'll be on GM Kyle Davidson to decide whether to supplement incoming draft capital with a big-ticket acquisition like Reinhart, who'll probably command at least $60 million over seven years.

Maybe this is the year for the Red Wings. Finally.

It's been seven straight seasons of missed playoffs for Detroit, which last made the tournament in 2016 and last won a series in 2013, when current team captain Dylan Larkin was a 16-year-old playing his first season with USA Hockey's development program.

The Red Wings were one point out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot heading into Sunday's games, which means the annual pressure on GM Steve Yzerman is ratcheting up to start showing tangible success over both the short and long hauls.

Given Florida's focus on another deep run, it's wholly unlikely Reinhart gets dealt at this season's trade deadline, so if Yzerman sees him as part of the next phase of the "Yzerplan," he'll need to make simultaneous money calls on imminent in-house UFAs David Perron, Patrick Kane and Shayne Gostisbehere and RFA Moritz Seider to save 2024-25 space.

Improbable? Sure. But if Yzerman wants a big splash this summer, this is it.

If the alphabet were no concern, the Panthers are first on this list.

Both the front office and Reinhart himself have expressed interest in making sure their business relationship continues beyond this spring, so unless a snag emerges or the player decides to see exactly how much a prolific season is worth, he probably stays put.

After all, Florida is on a short list of teams that can be considered legitimate Cup contenders for this season and beyond, given a roster littered with proven talent like Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad and Sergei Bobrovsky that's locked up at least through 2024-25.

And lest anyone forget, Florida-based athletes pay no state income tax.

Reinhart's future was a hot topic on a recent episode of the Spittin' Chiclets podcast, in which hosts Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette suggested he could take less annual money (with an extra year of term) to chase a Cup rather than simply grabbing for the biggest bag.

"If you love playing here, you got this stud center feeding you all night and you got all these chances that you're burying right now partly because of him," Whitney said. "Take a little bit less, stay here, and this team's built to go on another run."

Barry Trotz said he'd make an impact upon taking over as Nashville general manager.

And through the first half of the 2023-24 season at least, given that the Predators are holding the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoff race—ahead of popular preseason picks like Edmonton and Seattle—he's done that.

However, the mission doesn't stop after this spring.

Nashville remains a middle-of-the-road team when it comes to offensive output, with a per-game average of 3.16 goals that's tied for 15th in the NHL and just two players among the top 50 individual scorers. Clearly, a player on Reinhart's level can address that need, but it'll take some behind-the-scenes machinations on Trotz's part to get it done.

The Predators have five players making at least $5 million next season, including four rostered players and one still-costly buyout, so there's not exactly a treasure chest available to toss in Reinhart's direction.

Still, a guy with Trotz's connections and draft capital—Nashville has 13 picks across the top three rounds over the next three drafts—has tools to work with.

Stay tuned.

If you think Barry Trotz needs to get creative, hold Chris Drury's beer.

The Rangers GM has been in the business of making big swings since taking the job after the 2020-21 season, including separate trades for Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane at the trade deadline last season.

New York was eliminated in the opening round last spring and neither Tarasenko nor Kane remained with the team through the offseason. Still, the Rangers have less than $1 million of cap space available heading into this year's deadline and already seven players making $5 million or more for 2024-25. So, as mentioned, it'll take some major maneuvers.

Former No. 2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko has been a comprehensive disappointment since the 2019 draft, which necessitates an instant upgrade to a top-six forward position.

And given the fact that Drury has just five picks in the top three rounds over the next three drafts to sweeten trade deals, he'll need to move multiple players out to make room for the windfall Reinhart has coming.

Good luck, Captain Clutch. You'll need it.

The Seattle Kraken are not the Vegas Golden Knights, but they're not bad as expansion teams go.

Seattle missed the playoffs in year one of its NHL experience, made the tournament in year two and has regressed in year three, though a recent 9-0-1 run has it back within range.

Like Reinhart these days, Kraken GM Ron Francis was considered a high-IQ player during his 23-season NHL run, and it stands to reason he'd be attracted to the idea of acquiring a player of Reinhart's intelligence.

It probably doesn't hurt that Reinhart is a British Columbia native, which means a move to Seattle would get him within 150 miles of his home base.

His dad, Paul Reinhart, spent eight seasons with the Calgary Flames and the final two seasons of his 11-year NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks. Older brothers Max and Griffin spent time in Calgary and Edmonton, respectively, so there's plenty of family precedent for setting up occupational shop within a short distance of stomping grounds.

Francis has an edge over other GMs, too, because several seven-figure players are coming off the Kraken's books for 2024-25, which means at least $18 million stands to become available if luring the hometown-ish hero becomes a top offseason priority.

If you're looking for a dark horse in this race, it's wearing deep sea blue and red.

The Capitals are in an unfamiliar position. Again.

Washington made the playoffs for eight straight seasons, including a Stanley Cup hoist in 2018, before missing out with a 12th-place Eastern finish in 2022-23.

And it hasn't gotten much better this season with the Capitals off to a 46-point start through the halfway point that's only been good for an 11th-place tie in the conference.

A previously prolific offense has sagged to just 2.34 goals per game this season, just 30th out of 32 teams, and team scoring leader Alex Ovechkin's 27 points through Saturday were tied with 11 other players for 115th place among individual points leaders.

In other words, help is needed in the top six.

Reinhart's points-per-game rate across two-plus seasons would certainly provide it, and it's presumable that he'd at least entertain the idea of teaming up with Ovechkin as the "Great 8" continues his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal-scoring record.

Like Seattle, Washington has more than $10 million coming off the books with impending unrestricted free agents, which could conceivably (with other moves) create enough space for GM Brian MacLellan to put together a respectable offer for Reinhart come July.