It appears that Florida Panthers star forward Sam Reinhart has picked up right where he left off last season.
Reinhart logged a career-high 57 goals and 94 during his 2023-24 campaign, then capped it off with another 10 goals and 16 points during Florida’s run to winning the Stanley Cup in June.
He also scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, you know, for good measure.
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Now, just seven games into Florida’s 2024-25 season, Reinhart remains cruising right along.
On Monday, the NHL named Reinhart its First Star of the Week for games through Oct. 20.
Last week, Reinhart accumulated four goals and nine points, a plus-7 rating and 11 shots on goal during the Panthers four games.
Florida went 3-0-1 in those four games, which is especially notable because they played all of them without team captain Sasha Barkov and superstar winger Matthew Tkachuk.
The Panthers currently sit in first place in the Atlantic Division and are expected to get both of their stars back in the lineup in the coming days.
As for Reinhart, he’s showing the Panthers and everyone else that the massive eight-year, $69 million contract extension he signed during the offseason may have been a great deal on both ends.
Reinhart and the Cats will be back in action on Tuesday night when they host the Minnesota Wild at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.
Speaking of the Wild, goaltender Filip Gustavsson was named Third Star of the Week, so there will be some major talent on the ice when these teams go to battle.
It should be a good one!
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