Wolves’ Griffin Reinhart waits for chance to live up to family name

Defenseman Griffin Reinhart knows he has to stay positive.

Reinhart, 23, who was taken fourth overall by the New York Islanders in the 2012 entry draft, is the son of accomplished defenseman Paul Reinhart and older brother of promising Sabres forward Sam Reinhart.

Reinhart played in eight regular-season games and one playoff game with the Islanders during the 2014-15 season before being shipped to Edmonton. He made 29 appearances for the Oilers during the 2015-16 season but went back to the AHL and didn’t return to the Oilers’ lineup except for one playoff game last season.

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Reinhart’s adventure continued when he was taken by Vegas in the expansion draft and signed to a two-year deal. But he was quickly taken out of the lineup as the Golden Knights loaded up on defensemen and never played a regular-season game.

Reinhart cleared waivers and was loaned to the Wolves on Oct. 30.

“It would be nice if I could get back up there soon and play,” Reinhart said. “They’re doing really well and there’s a lot of buzz around the city for the team. It’s a great place to play.”

Vegas might be a great place to play, but for now Reinhart isn’t there. Despite that — and everything that has and hasn’t happened during his professional career — Reinhart has to keep his head up as he works through his latest detour.

“It’s tough. You don’t really have the option,” Reinhart said. “You can do it one of two ways: you can keep playing, pushing forward and trying to get back [to the NHL], or you can take the easy way out and call it quits and just feel sorry for yourself, but that doesn’t really get you anywhere.”

Entering the game Wednesday at Manitoba, Reinhart has no goals and no assists with a minus-3 rating in six appearances. Reinhart said he needs to improve his pace of play and keep things simple while he’s with the Wolves. He’s still optimistic he’ll get his chance in the NHL.

“That’s the only way you can look at it,” Reinhart said. “Try to do everything that you can and the business side will take care of itself.”

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Follow me on Twitter @BrianSandalow.