2023-24 Season Rewind: Sam Reinhart

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better contract season than Sam Reinhart had in 2023-24.

A threat on both sides of the ice, the 2024 All-Star set career highs in double-digit categories.

Terrorizing opposing goaltenders on a seemingly nightly basis, the 28-year-old forward lit the lamp a career-high 57 times, with an NHL-leading 27 of those goals coming by way of the man advantage.

Helping the Florida Panthers win their first Stanley Cup, he added 10 more goals in the playoffs.

“He is awesome,” Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky said of his high-scoring teammate. “He can score from any position. He’s smart. He’s not only scoring goals but he’s a key player on the penalty kill as well and in the defensive zone. It’s so much fun to see him have that success.”

Getting hot and staying hot, Reinhart had more than a few scorching stretches.

None were more impressive than the run he went on to kick off 2024.

Starting to run out of ink as he kept rewriting the franchise’s record books, Reinhart lit the lamp in eight straight games from Jan. 2-17, breaking Hall of Famer Pavel Bure’s previous record of seven games.

During that run, he also touched twine in four straight games on the power play.

“I think any time you’re in the conversation with Pavel Bure, that’s pretty cool,” Reinhart said.

Making the most of his opportunities, Reinhart had a league-best 24.5% shooting percentage (among players with over 50 shots) and ranked second in the NHL with 11 game-winning goals.

“Nothing surprises me anymore with him,” said teammate Matthew Tkachuk. “He’s the real deal.”

It’s not often a player with those kinds of offensive numbers is also a wizard on defense.

But as we all know, Reinhart is far from regular.

The two-way star also ranked second in the NHL with five shorthanded goals.

Teaming up with Aleksander Barkov on the penalty kill, he skated 176:08 while shorthanded.

In addition to reaching career highs in hits (78) and blocked shots (66), Reinhart also helped the Panthers control 57.61% of shot attempts when he was deployed at 5-on-5, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

For his efforts, he finished 12^th place in voting for the Hart Trophy.

“Next to Ron Francis, he’s the smartest player I’ve ever coached,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “If there’s something going on the ice that I’m not sure about, I’ll ask him.”

If you ask Reinhart what he’s doing for the nearly the next decade, he’s also already got an answer for that.

On June 30, the Panthers inked him to an eight-year extension.

“Since coming to South Florida, Sam has demonstrated his ability to be a powerful scoring threat while maintaining strong defensive play,” Panthers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Zito said. “His versatility and value as a player are only outshined by his premier personality and work ethic, and we are pleased to have him continue on with our group.”

Since being acquired by Florida in 2021, Reinhart ranks 11^th in the NHL with 121 goals.

COOL STAT

Shoot!

Fans didn’t have to tell Reinhart twice to let it rip on the power play.

With 27 power-play goals last season, the master of the one-timer set a new franchise record, surpassing both Bure (2000-01) and Scott “Mr. Rat Trick” Mellanby (1995-96), who each had 19.

The best season on the man advantage in quite some time, Reinhart’s 27 goals were also the 13^th most in NHL history and most since Ilya Kovalchuk tallied 27 in 2005-06 with the Atlanta Thrashers.

“If he’s open, obviously we want to look for him,” said Barkov, who teed up more than a few goals for Reinhart last season. “When he’s in the slot, just get the puck to him. He’s scored a lot of goals from there. He works really hard in the practices shooting from there. We want to get the puck to him.”

Setting himself apart, Reinhart’s 27 power-play goals were six more than the league’s second place finisher, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, and 19 more than Florida’s second-best player, Carter Verhaeghe.

Want an even crazier stat?

By himself, Reinhart had nearly many as power-play goals as the Philadelphia Flyers (31) and Columbus Blue Jackets (32).

BEST GAME

Even though he scored 67 times between the regular season and playoffs, Reinhart’s best performance arguably came during a key game in which he didn’t find the back of the net.

Trying to avoid falling behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Boston Bruins, he set the franchise record for most assists in a playoff game when he produced four helpers in a 6-1 win on May 8 at Amerant Bank Arena.

Dishing the biscuit in all situations, Reinhart had helpers at even-strength, on the power play and while shorthanded.

“I’ve got to give credit to Reino (Reinhart),” said Barkov. “I played with him the whole year. He helped me a lot. PK, power play, 5-on-5, pretty much I spend my whole time with him on the ice. A big credit to him.”

Not just making magic happen on offense, Reinhart, who finished fourth in voting for the Selke Trophy this past season, also had five hits and two blocked shots in the win over the Bruins.

GOAL OF THE YEAR

It’s the kind of goal that every kid dreams about scoring.

A game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Not only was this Reinhart’s goal of the year, it’s probably the most important goal in the history of the franchise.

After a chaotic diving stop from defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to prevent a goal to keep the score even at 1-1, Reinhart went on the rush and sniped glove-side on Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner to put the Panthers ahead 2-1 at 15:11 of the second period.

The rest is history.