At Sabres practice this afternoon, a move that many Sabres fans thought should have happened at the beginning of the season seems to have finally taken place – the move of Sam Reinhart to center.
Reinhart spent time this morning centering Zemgus Girgensons and Tyler Ennis on the Sabres second line in a move that Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said is both for balance and to get Reinhart going.
“We have six goals in one game and four in the other three games. Sam needs to get a little bit more of the feet moving, a little bit more speed to his game. He made some great plays early on, but we need to get more out of Sam in providing a little bit more offense for our team.”
As soon as Jack Eichel went down with his high ankle sprain, many Sabres fans assumed Reinhart would eventually get a look at center, the position he played throughout his career before moving to the wing last year. Reinhart’s vision and passing ability makes him a natural choice to play the pivot, and now he’ll get his chance.
The other big news from today’s practice was the promotion of Matt Moulson to the top line, putting him alongside Ryan O’Reilly and former Islanders teammate Matt Moulson. Said Okposo:
“Matt and I have played together before, had some success, I mean he’s a smart player and we’re just going to try to rekindle some old magic.”
Bylsma said the moves were made to get some balance in the top three lines. The Foligno-Larsson-Gionta line stayed together, while the fourth line consisted of Deslauriers-Grant-Fasching. The Sabres need to be able to get their offense rolling on Tuesday against the Flyers, who are tied for 5th in the NHL in goals this year with 19.