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The penultimate entry in our summertime roster review series: #23 Sam Reinhart C (three years left at $894,000 per, age 19) Buffalo 9/0/1/1/-1/2 Kootenay 45/19/46/65/6/20 Canada WJC 7/5/6/11/NA/6 Rochester 3/0/3/3/0/0 Sam Reinhart arrived in Buffalo last summer as the highest-rated forward in a draft that was described as lacking an elite talent up front. That said more about his cerebral style than his effectiveness. This was a player who scored 105 points in 60 games in his draft year, followed by 23 points in 13 playoff games that season for a mediocre Kootenay team. He led Canada to world championship gold at 16 and at 17 and followed that up this year with a third gold medal in four years at 19. The year after his draft, however, was full of ups and downs. A lukewarm training camp led to a taste of the NHL where he looked physically weak and a step behind the play. That was followed by an offensive explosion his first few weeks back in the WHL, capped by a World Junior tournament where he dominated as the number-one centre and led to his being named the NHL’s top prospect. But the afterglow of the WJCs was characterized by decidedly average numbers back in juniors, exacerbated by the pro successes of a handful of other players from his draft year. He restored some of his lustre by being the outstanding player of the Sabres 2015 development camp but remains overshadowed by the acquisitions of Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly. Disappointed in their initial NHL look at their first tanking prize, Sabre fans are uncertain about where Reinhart fits in this fall. Wing? Centre? Top six? Seasoning in Rochester? Tim Murray expects him in Buffalo, proving the second-guessers wrong, but until he does that the whispers will remain. Links to the rest of the series: