Only two players in Florida Panthers history have scored more than 50 goals in a single season: Hall of Famer Pavel Bure did it twice, and Sam Reinhart scored 57 in 2023-24 to come within two lamplighters of breaking the team record.
Through 12 seasons in the NHL, after the Buffalo Sabres drafted Reinhart as the second overall pick at the 2014 Draft, he’s gone on to score 323 goals thanks to 10 seasons of at least 20 goals and four of at least 30.
Once the Panthers began to compete for the Stanley Cup in 2023, Reinhart became a clutch goal scorer in the postseason, scoring the Cup-clinching goal in Game 7 in 2024 and following that up with a magical four-goal performance in Game 6 of the 2025 Final.
In one of the most memorable games in franchise history, Reinhart became the fifth skater to ever score four goals in a Stanley Cup Final game, joining Maurice Richard (1957), Ted Lindsay (1955), Babe Dye (1922), and Newsy Lalonde (1919).
On the anniversary of the trade that brought Reinhart to Florida, we look back at the deal and see where everyone is in 2026.
Sabres trade Reinhart to Panthers on July 24, 2021
At just 25, the Sabres parted ways with Reinhart on July 24, 2021, after seven seasons. Despite going goalless in his first nine NHL games, he netted 23 at 20 years old in 2015-16. During his second season, he scored just 17 goals, which remains a career low, but bounced back in 2017-18, playing all 82 games and scoring 25 goals. He scored a then-career high of 65 points in 2018-19, but one thing was becoming consistent: Reinhart was minus-65 through 331 career games on a rebuilding Sabres team.
In his final two seasons with the Sabres, he barely missed any time and scored 47 goals over his final 123 games with the club, but was minus-43. During his seven seasons in Buffalo, Reinhart never played in the playoffs. Approaching free agency for the first time in his career, the Sabres traded him to the Panthers for a 2022 first-round pick and goalie Devon Levi.
Immediately following his debut with Florida, Reinhart would hit 30 goals for the first time, finishing with 33 in 2021-22, collecting another 31 in 2022-23, before scoring a personal best 57 in 2023-24. In just five seasons with the Panthers, he’s already outperformed his totals with Buffalo, with 50 more goals and almost 100 points, while being a plus-30 player. In August 2021, Reinhart signed a three-year contract worth $19.5 million, and after playoff heroics, inked an eight-year extension in 2024 worth $69 million that expires in 2031-32.
Panthers deal away late first-round pick and Levi
At the 2022 Draft, the Sabres ended up with the 28th overall pick, where they selected center Jiri Kulich. He would debut with the club in 2023-24 for one game, before finding a regular role the following season. At just 20 years old, he scored 15 goals and 24 points; however, he was limited to just 12 games last season, collecting five points. In the AHL, Kulich has scored 54 goals and 94 points through 123 games with the Rochester Americans.
Also included in the deal was young goalie Devon Levi, a seventh-round pick from 2020, who never played with the Panthers; instead, he developed in the NCAA with Northeastern University. By the time he was ready to play professionally, he debuted in the NHL and went 5-2-0 at 21. However, the Sabres had many young goalies in their system, which is why Levi played in 39 games over three seasons in Buffalo, going 17-17-2. On July 1, 2026, he was on the move again, moving to the Edmonton Oilers for a third- and seventh-round pick.
Considering how invaluable Reinhart has become to the Panthers, not only during the Stanley Cup runs, but also during the regular season, it appears they won this trade with the Sabres. With six more seasons left on his current deal, Reinhart has a chance to go down as one of the best players in franchise history.
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