Adam Engstrom was the Habs’ best defenseman (ahead of David Reinbacher)

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[content-ads] The Swedish defenseman showed great things last night, bringing out all his qualities in every appearance. His excellent skating, his vision of the game, his calmness with the puck and his good defensive stick are all elements that stood out for me yesterday. And I repeat, for me, Engstrom was better than Reinbacher.

Obviously, the Austrian defenseman didn’t have a bad game, on the contrary, as we saw several flashes from him, but I found that he was caught out much more often, including on this sequence where he looked like an orange cone.

[content-ads] It’s only a rookie game, sure, but getting pantsed like that by a 23-year-old who just finished five seasons in the U.S. collegiate ranks and has scored just 10 points, including five goals, in 37 games isn’t ideal.

Maybe I’m being hard on Reinbacher, but I just have a hard time seeing him as a fifth overall pick, when a guy like Adam Engstrom (3rd round pick – 92nd in 2022) stands out more.

Reinbacher’s going to be good, but will he be as good as a fifth overall pick should be? That remains to be seen. Anyway, back to Engstrom, I really loved his fluidity on skates, and especially his calmness with the puck. He never panics, and he almost always makes the right decision, without getting out of position. If he keeps this up, he could seriously muddy the waters at training camp, as he really plays like a defenseman who can aspire to an NHL position as early as this year.

[spacer title=’En Rafale’] – Unbelievable,

– Former Habs player fined.

– To be continued.

– To be noted.

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