Griffin Reinhart (born January 24, 1994) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who last played for the

Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). T ...

of the

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

(EIHL). He is regarded as one of the biggest draft busts in NHL league history. He was drafted fourth overall by the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. During his tenure in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL), Reinhart played for the Islanders and the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

Playing career

Major junior

After recording 36 points in the regular season, a career high, Reinhart won the 2012 WHL Playoffs with the Oil Kings. Reinhart was selected fourth overall by the

, in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and signed a three-year entry-level contract with them on August 2, 2012. On September 18, 2012, Reinhart was named captain of the Oil Kings. Although the Oil Kings qualified for the 2013 WHL Playoffs, Reinhart injured his foot and was unable to play in the WHL finals, won by the

Portland Winterhawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1950 as the Edmonton Oil Kings, the team relocated to Portland in 1976 and was known as the Winter Hawks until 2009. The team plays in the U.S. Divisio ...

. In his last year in the WHL, Reinhart helped lead the Oil Kings to their second WHL Championship within three years on May 12, 2014. He was named to the WHL (East) Second All-Star Team and WHL Playoff MVP for his efforts. The Oil Kings also named Reinhart and teammate Cody Corbett co-winners of the team’s Top Defenceman award. On May 25, the Oil Kings won the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

over the

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marl ...

Professional

Although Reinhart spent the majority of the 2014–15 season with the Islanders AHL affiliate, the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the franchise. The team started in 200 ...

, he made his NHL debut on October 10, 2014, against the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

. On June 26, 2015, Reinhart was traded by the Islanders to the

in exchange for the Oilers' 2015 first-round pick (16th overall,

Mathew Barzal Mathew Barzal (born May 26, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Barzal was selected by the Islanders in the first round, 16th overall, of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. ...

) and second-round pick (33rd overall,

Mitchell Stephens Mitchell Stephens may refer to: *Mitchell Stephens (academic) Mitchell Stephens (born August 16, 1949) is an American professor of journalism and mass communications at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. He is also a re ...

) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Having been left exposed by the Oilers at the

2017 NHL Expansion Draft The 2017 NHL expansion draft was an expansion draft conducted by the National Hockey League on June 18–20, 2017 to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 2017–18 season, the Vegas Golden Knights. The team's selections were an ...

, Reinhart was selected by the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Golden Knights compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division ...

on June 21, 2017. On October 30, Reinhart was sent to the Golden Knights' AHL affiliate, the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

. After leaving the NHL as a free agent, Reinhart spent his first season abroad, playing with Chinese based

HC Kunlun Red Star HC Kunlun Red Star () is a professional ice hockey club based in Beijing, China. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The club joined the KHL prior to the 2016–17 season. History Preparation of the t ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

affected 2019–20 season. He made 33 appearances for Kunlun, registering just 3 assists from the blueline. As a free agent into the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, Reinhart belatedly joined German club, Iserlohn Roosters of the DEL, for the remainder of the campaign on February 12, 2021. In August 2021, Reinhart agreed to terms with UK

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

side

ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Personal life

Reinhart's father

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

was an All-Star NHL defenseman for Atlanta/Calgary and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in the 1980s. Griffin's older brother,

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, was drafted by the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and his younger brother Sam was drafted second overall in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reinhart, Griffin 1994 births Living people Bakersfield Condors players Belfast Giants players Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Chicago Wolves players Edmonton Oil Kings players Edmonton Oilers players Ice hockey people from British Columbia Iserlohn Roosters players HC Kunlun Red Star players NHL first-round draft picks New York Islanders draft picks New York Islanders players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Sportspeople from West Vancouver Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Northern Ireland 21st-century Canadian sportsmen