When Florida and Buffalo agreed to the Sam Reinhart deal on July 24, 2021, it ended up shaping the direction of both franchises in very different ways. The Panthers sent a first-round pick and goalie prospect Devon Levi to the Sabres for Reinhart, and the move became one of the defining transactions of Florida’s run into the league’s elite.
Reinhart has been a major reason for that. In parts of six seasons with the Panthers, he has played 396 games and piled up 194 goals and 199 assists for 393 points.
He’s added 152 power-play points and 1,060 shots on goal, and his 57-goal season stands as his career best and ranks third in franchise history. Florida has leaned on him as a finisher, especially on a power play filled with talent.
His value has gone well beyond offense. Reinhart is a plus-30 with the Panthers and has collected 93 penalty minutes, while averaging 19:54 of ice time per game in the regular season. Alongside Aleksander Barkov, he has been a steady two-way presence on the top line, helping drive play at one end and clamp down on elite opponents at the other.
That impact carried straight into the playoffs. Reinhart has appeared in 76 postseason games for Florida and produced 32 goals and 24 assists for 56 points.
He was part of two Stanley Cup wins and another Stanley Cup Final appearance, all while becoming a central figure in the most successful stretch in Panthers history. Even after Florida’s relatively unsuccessful 2025-26 season, he’s still positioned as a key piece of what comes next.
The individual recognition followed too, even if the trophy case never fully filled up. Reinhart has received Lady Byng votes in every season with the Panthers.
In 2023-24, he made the All-Star Game, finished third in All-Star voting among right wingers, placed fourth in Selke Trophy voting behind Barkov, and ranked 12th in Hart Trophy voting. In 2024-25, he finished fourth among right wingers in All-Star voting and second in Selke voting, again behind Barkov.
During the 2025-26 season, he still drew some attention despite Florida’s drop-off, finishing 11th in Lady Byng voting and 16th in Selke voting.
Before Florida, Reinhart spent parts of seven seasons with Buffalo, where he played 454 games and posted 134 goals and 161 assists for 295 points. He also recorded 91 power-play points for the Sabres, operating as a key top-six forward and a regular on the man advantage.
His plus-minus with Buffalo finished at minus-97, and he added 90 penalty minutes. In 2015-16, he finished ninth in Calder Trophy voting and 16th in Lady Byng voting.
The first-round pick Florida sent to Buffalo turned into Jiri Kulich, selected 28th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Kulich has played four seasons and counting with the Sabres, appearing in 83 games and recording 19 goals and 13 assists for 32 points.
He’s currently minus-8 with 22 penalty minutes. Buffalo also had Devon Levi, who was taken 212th overall by Florida in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Levi developed at Northeastern University, never played a game in the Panthers organization, then spent parts of three seasons in Buffalo between the NHL and AHL. He appeared in 39 NHL games, started 36, and went 17-17-2 with a .894 save percentage and 3.29 goals-against average.
He was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers this past offseason for a seventh-round pick and a third-round pick.
The trade has given Florida a centerpiece of its championship core, while Buffalo ended up with two young players, one still with the Sabres and one now with Edmonton.
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Sabres Let A Winnable Game Slip In Another Painful Overtime Loss
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The edge did not hold, though, and the night ended the way too many recent ones have for Buffalo, with another overtime loss in a game it had every chance to finish. Tuch was central to the turnaround, and the Sabres were left looking at a 4-3 defeat after letting a winnable matchup slip away. [Read more 🡒]