Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice: ''I'm playing him more than I want to play him''

When Paul Maurice talks about «best player on the ice,» he has pointed at Sam Reinhart before, and it lands because the details match the praise. He doesn't just score, he drags structure into shifts.

Reinhart is 30 now, drafted second overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2014, and he plays like a guy who understands exactly what every inch costs. In a season where Florida has leaned on depth and duct tape, that reliability has become a nightly habit.

Through Monday's game in Buffalo, ESPN has Reinhart at 24 goals and 45 points, with nine power-play goals already. Florida's own NHL player page was still showing 23 goals and 44 points, which tells you how fast the numbers move when he keeps scoring.

From a fan's seat, he's the kind of player you trust when the bench looks thin, because he rarely gives you a soft shift.

Maurice's other point matters just as much, Reinhart is asked to do everything. ESPN lists him at 21:19 per night, and StatMuse has him over 21 minutes as well, which is big usage for a forward.

That's where the coach's concern about trimming his minutes makes sense, because you can't keep pouring gas on the same line forever. Reinhart is on the power play, he takes hard matchups, and he still finds time to cheat nothing defensively.

The penalty kill detail is real, too. StatMuse has him among the league leaders with three shorthanded goals, and that's not an accident, it's anticipation and stick detail.

When other high-end Panthers have been missing time, Reinhart's consistency has basically held the ceiling up. It's a big reason Florida has stayed in the fight in the standings at all, because he gives them a baseline every single night, even when the lineup is missing star names.