Ottawa Senators Top 25 Under 25, 2024 #21: Cole Reinhardt
The 2020 6th-round pick debuts in his last year of eligibility
#21: Cole Reinhardt (Last Year: NR, Reader Rank: 20)
In his last year of eligibility, 24-year-old left-winger Cole Reinhardt (not Reinhart) makes his debut on our list, a full four years after he was drafted. It's kind of rare for someone who's been in the system for so long without any notable NHL experience to suddenly make it. Even more interestingly, the staff and readers had him at nearly the same position, so this gradual creep into relevance seems to be a universal observation.
Reinhardt was a sixth-round pick (181st overall) in the 2020 draft, the same draft that gave us Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson, Ridly Greig, Tyler Kleven, and Leevi Meriläinen, all of whom (frigid spoiler alert) are still to come on this list. As mentioned in our scouting report at the time, his biggest assets appeared to be leadership (assistant captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings in his draft+1 season) and his decent offensive skill (55 points in 56 WHL games in that same season). While I'm never a huge fan of picking overagers, I can understand the logic, especially in late rounds where picks rarely work out. After all, Reinhardt was able to immediately sign an amateur tryout with Belleville, and his 6 goals and 6 assists in 33 AHL games earned him his entry-level contract at the end of the season. An 18-year-old would've had to do another year in junior.
Reinhardt has been a mainstay in Belleville since 2021, playing in 192 regular season games (and 8 playoff games) over the past 3 seasons. His numbers in that time have been modest, with 34 goals and 53 assists. Early on, he received a reward callup in April 2022, playing a single NHL game. It's highly unusual that he hasn't played a single NHL game in the last two seasons and yet is still with the team. Other guys who got NHL opportunities previously but not in 2023-24 (Egor Sokolov, Viktor Lodin, Lassi Thomson...) are no longer in Belleville. And yet Reinhardt's still here, in what is likely a make-or-break season for him with the franchise; after all, he extended for just one year back in June. The unwillingness to do longer likely shows that both sides are hedging their bets, knowing that if he's not an NHLer this season, it's probably best for everyone for him to go elsewhere. He will be a Group 6 UFA in the spring (unless he plays 79 NHL games this season).
So what's his outlook this year? It's hard to say. GM Steve Staios was typically cagey after he was extended: "Cole continues to showcase very good skating ability. In combination with his size, he’s become an important penalty killer. He’s a good defensive player and one we expect to take another step forward in his overall development in 2024-25." His skating and PK ability may be true, but he's 6'1", and based on what we've seen, that doesn't count as size in Staios' books. Still, being identified as a PKer is a big deal. It means that he may get looks on Ottawa's fourth line, as a defensive-focused forward, in a way that a guy like Angus Crookshank or Xavier Bourgualt won't.
As with any sixth-round pick, the fact that the Sens have got 225 AHL games and 99 AHL points (second and fifth, respectively, in Belleville Sens history) means that the Sens have already done far better than expected. But Reinhardt's goal is not to top out at a good AHL player. With guys like Sokolov and Roby Järventie traded, as well as defensive players from last season like Mathieu Joseph and Rourke Chartier gone, there's an opening for a forward like Reinhardt in the NHL. I expect he'll get a few games before Christmas, and it's up to him to show that he belongs.
