Sabres looking for more from 1st-round pick Sam Reinhart; roster spot not guaranteed

The future is bright for Sam Reinhart, who was drafted second overall by the Buffalo Sabres at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. As training camp progresses, however, time is running out in order for the young forward to make enough of an impression to warrant a roster spot with the big club.

Reinhart recorded zero points in his first three exhibition games, and head coach Ted Nolan told the Buffalo News it's time for the 18-year-old to start producing.

Sam is like any other player except he has the tag of being that first-round pick. As with everybody else, you’ve got to do it. You can’t just hope you’re gonna do it. You’ve got to do it. And that’s not putting pressure on him. We say the same thing to all the guys coming in ... Sam has the benefit of his age. You give him a little bit of time to adjust. Now he’s had some time and now he’s got to start doing things that he’s really good at. Thinking the game, dishing off the puck, moving around, being a little bit more involved. As the games get going, you want him to get going with the games.

Reinhart admits to being frustrated with his lack of production, and that being sent back to the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League would be somewhat disheartening.

“No question it would be disappointing,” Reinhart said. “But I’m aware if that does happen, I’m going to do everything I can to take that as a positive and go dominate junior one more year.”

Complicating things is the sparkling preseason play of 2012 first-round pick Mikhail Grigorenko, who by all rights should be more equipped to step into the lineup on a full-time basis than Reinhart.

If Reinhart does end up back in junior, he'd be following in the footsteps of 2013 third-overall pick Jonathan Drouin, and there's certainly no shame in being mentioned in the same sentence as that kind of player.