Zac Rinaldo

History

2007-08: Rinaldo appeared in 63 games with Mississauga St. Michael’s as a 17-year-old in his first full OHL season. He racked up a team-leading 191 penalty minutes as the Majors finished third in the Central Division. Rinaldo scored 7 goals with 7 assists and was -14. In four playoff games he was -3 with 9 PMs.  Rinaldo was ranked 119th by Central Scouting in its final rankings and was selected by Philadelphia in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft.

2008-09: Rinaldo began the season with Mississauga St. Michael’s and was traded to the London Knights in exchange for center Kale Kerbashian in a January trade deadline deal. Rinaldo skated in 60 games between the two teams, missing time due to multiple suspensions, and had a league-leading 201 PMs. Rinaldo’s offensive production increased as well – he scored 3 of his 10 goals on the power play and was +18 with 20 assists. He received a six-game suspension during the playoffs and finished with 1 goal and 1 assist and was -3 with 26 PMs in eight playoff games for the Knights.

2009-10: An injury riddled season saw Rinaldo skate in just 60 games between London and Barrie (he was traded mid-season for the second straight year). He again led the OHL in penalty minutes (255). In 26 games with Barrie following the trade, he had 107 PMs and was +7 with 2 goals and 8 assists as the Colts were the league’s top team in the regular season. For the season, he finished with 10 goals and 15 assists and was +9 with the two teams. Rinaldo played in four playoff games during the Colts’ run to the OHL Finals, receiving a 12-game suspension for a blind-side it on Sudbury’s Marcus Foligno (BUF). He scored 2 goals in the playoffs and was +1 with 11 PMs.

2010-11: Rinaldo made his NHL debut in the playoffs, skating in two games for the Flyers, after leading AHL Adirondack in penalty minutes as a 20-year-old. Rinaldo was scoreless and -1 with 12 PMs averaging just over five minutes of ice-time in his playoff appearance. In 60 games with the Phantoms, he finished second in the AHL behind Albany’s Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (NJD) with 331 PMs and was -7 with 3 goals and 6 assists.
 

Talent Analysis

Although undersized by NHL standards, Rinaldo was selected by the Flyers in the sixth round for his agitating qualities. 

Future

There is some potential with this pick, but Rinaldo will need to continue to work towards developing in all aspects of the game and add on more muscle if he wants to ply his trade at the NHL level.