Vinnie Hinostroza wants back in.
It's an easy synopsis of how the veteran winger feels about the Buffalo Sabres going forward after not moving at the trade deadline. He's an unrestricted free agent after the season, and General Manager Kevyn Adams said Monday the Sabres would like to work something out with Hinostroza for the 2022-23 season and perhaps beyond.
That's exactly what Hinostroza wanted to hear.
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"I know a lot of guys might say coming here that they're super excited to be here and they want to be here. But that's truly something I took pride in. I want to be here. They took a chance on me and I've loved it here so far," Hinostroza said prior to Wednesday's game against Pittsburgh. "I like playing for (coach Don Granato). I love the team. ... I'd be super interested. This is a place where I want to be. I don't want to keep moving around. I want to be somewhere that I love. And I love it here."
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Hinostroza said he felt calm during Monday's deadline but said his wife, Samantha, was more nervous. Particularly since she's expecting their second child in April.
"Obviously, there's always a chance you don't know until it passes," he said of the deadline. "But we both wanted to stay here pretty badly. So we're happy how it worked out."
Hinostroza is the kind of experienced depth player the Sabres will need going forward to fill their bottom-six slots up front. Granato raves about Hinostroza's practice habits and the speedy winger has been able to score, collecting 10 goals and 11 assists in 43 games. That's a pace for 19 goals and 40 points in a full 82-game season.
Hinostroza signed a one-year deal for $1.05 million last July and will undoubtedly be looking for something more along the lines of the two-year, $3 million deal he signed with Chicago in 2018. The Sabres have acres of cap space for next season and would easily be able to accommodate something in that range.Â
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"He's absolutely a player that I feel has been impactful on and off the ice," Adams said. "... He's had a positive effect in our room. I do believe practice habits matter. And Vinnie Hinostroza is going all out every drill, every rep. It all matters to him. And I think there's a message that guys like Dylan Cozens gets and Peyton Krebs gets. They're playing on a line together right now and they can be like, 'Wow. Hey, this is what you have to do in this league. I just think that's important."
"When Vinnie was out of the lineup (missing 19 games with an upper-body injury), we missed that guy that kind of drags others into the fight, because he just plays at such a high pace," Granato said. "If you're his two linemates and you're not ready to play at a high pace, you're either going to hear from him, or you're not going to keep up. I really like his ability there to communicate with (Krebs and Cozens). They go through ups and downs in the games. And he gives them a really good perspective. He communicates well with them and pushes them along."
Hinostroza has been enjoying his recent stint as a trio with Cozens and Krebs, two of the Sabres' top young prospects. Krebs and Hinostroza had two goals each in Buffalo's Heritage Classic win March 13 over Toronto outdoors at Hamilton's Tim Horton's Field.
"Two super skilled guys, super young. And I'm not too old, but I feel like I'm the old guy with them so it's fun," Hinostroza said. "It's really fun to play with them. And they're really hungry to be better every game, every day, every practice.
"It's a good position where I'm kind of an older guy and not one of the leaders of the team, but in a kind of a secondary leadership role where I've been through so much adversity in my career. So whenever one of these young guys like 'Cuzzy' and Krebs is going through something, I could talk to him and be like, 'OK, you missed a couple of shifts here, it's not the end of the world. I've sat out for 10-15 games in a row.' So you're always gonna have adversity a career."
Hinostroza said social media has been a cesspool when it comes to the Sabres in recent years but he ignored all the outside noise when he signed here and his faith in Granato, whom he knows from their time together in Chicago, and Adams has been borne out.
"It's just all negativity around Buffalo is what you read," he said. "Until you're in the locker room, you don't actually realize how close it is to being something really good. The fans, you don't get to see inside of the locker room, really how close-knit this team is and how close it is to being something really special. So I think being a part of it is really cool. And something that I'd like to be a part of in the next few years helping to change."