Sam Reinhart is a center

[pi2000 1,692]

21 minutes ago, Curt said:

Yup, they matter situationally, and it’s really nice when at least one of your top C’s is very good at FOs, but just because a guy has a FO win% of 44% instead of 53%, I’m not going to say he isn’t good at C.  There are a lot of more important things.

At what point does it become a concern?  mid to low 40's, I'm not too worried about it... but Sam is 38%, career 36%... meaning BUF loses possession roughly 2 out of every 3 times he lines up on the dot.    That's a red flag IMO... and the only way I keep him at center is if he absolutely excels in every other area of playing center... and I'm pulling him immediately for d-zone draws, end of game, over-time, etc...  It complicates things immensely for a coach, eg Sam absolutely cannot take a face-off in overtime or at the end of a close game, ever.  

Edited Monday at 11:31 PM by pi2000

[SwampD 3,472]

4 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

At what point does it become a concern?  mid to low 40's, I'm not too worried about it... but Sam is 38%, career 36%... meaning BUF loses possession 2 out of every 3 times he lines up on the dot.    That's a red flag IMO... and the only way I keep him at center is if he absolutely excels in every other area of playing center... and I'm pulling him immediately for d-zone draws, end of game, over-time, etc...  It complicates things immensely for a coach, eg Sam absolutely cannot take a face-off in overtime or at the end of a close game, ever.  

So it’s actually not that complicated.

[pi2000 1,692]

5 minutes ago, SwampD said:

So it’s actually not that complicated.

That's just an example.   d-zone draws, end of period, end of game, over time, PK, can't ice the puck when he's out there, what if the opposing team puts out their best face-off guy (Bergeron, O'Reilly) do you let Sam take the draw? etc. etc etc.   What if you're in one of those situations and his line is due up?   Do you sit him?  Then he's not getting enough ice time... it's just something extra a coach has to be aware of, that he would be better of not wasting time thinking about.    At some point, he'll say ***** it and just put him back at wing because of the severe migraine Sam is giving him. 

Edited Monday at 11:37 PM by pi2000

[Curt 2,217]

14 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

At what point does it become a concern?  mid to low 40's, I'm not too worried about it... but Sam is 38%, career 36%... meaning BUF loses possession roughly 2 out of every 3 times he lines up on the dot.    That's a red flag IMO... and the only way I keep him at center is if he absolutely excels in every other area of playing center... and I'm pulling him immediately for d-zone draws, end of game, over-time, etc...  It complicates things immensely for a coach, eg Sam absolutely cannot take a face-off in overtime or at the end of a close game, ever.  

Yeah, I think even in the low 40’s it’s something to consider in certain situations.

Are you asking at what point it becomes disqualifying from playing the position?  I don’t know exactly, but below 40 is pretty rough.

However, with regards to Reinhart specifically, he hasn’t been playing C in a while, and I’ll assume not practicing FOs intensely, so I would hope that he can show some improvement if he focuses on them for a few months.  That is if the plan if for him to be playing C longer term.

[inkman 3,901]

Skinner has been taking most of the draws on Reino’s wing so do we really need to have this conversation?

[LGR4GM 5,907]

2 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Please, I'm begging you, show me where I said we should dump him because he's not good at face-offs.   

Stop putting words in my mouth and making stuff up to fit your weak narrative. 

You wanna talk weak narratives, tell us more about his +/-

Faceoffs don't make a center. 

You won't even plot the faceoffs wins of each team. You should Pi

[LGR4GM 5,907]

https://puckbase.com/stats/team-faceoffs

Here you go. Philly is 3rd and Sabres are 12th. Just for example. Faceoffs clearly align with things. 

2 hours ago, pi2000 said:

At what point does it become a concern?  mid to low 40's, I'm not too worried about it... but Sam is 38%, career 36%... meaning BUF loses possession roughly 2 out of every 3 times he lines up on the dot.    That's a red flag IMO... and the only way I keep him at center is if he absolutely excels in every other area of playing center... and I'm pulling him immediately for d-zone draws, end of game, over-time, etc...  It complicates things immensely for a coach, eg Sam absolutely cannot take a face-off in overtime or at the end of a close game, ever.  

Literally not how that works. 

Edited Tuesday at 01:48 AM by LGR4GM