Lariviere: Why David Reinbacher Is In The AHL

The Montreal Canadiens announced their 23-man roster and cuts on Sunday afternoon, and surprisingly to many, David Reinbacher was not on it and Adam Engstrom was.

Although the final preseason game on Saturday night in Ottawa saw a better and more responsible performance from Adam Engstrom than David Reinbacher, it seemed like the latter had the better camp as a whole. A lot of that is because Reinbacher’s game came with a lot more attention than Engstrom’s, considering their draft pedigree and expectations for the future. The reality is both defensemen had a very good camp until Reinbacher had a challenging third preseason outing that included two bad penalties that led to the Ottawa Senators scoring Power Play goals. Reinbacher played well in the spotlight, but Engstrom was also really good by playing a more quiet type of game.

As seen in the AHL, Engstrom can be a very good offensive defenseman; however, in the NHL, he continues to just play the simple, effective game. Although up until the third preseason outing, it seemed like Reinbacher was being just as sound defensively. Still, there were times where he made rookie mistakes with the puck that led to turnovers, whereas Engstrom rarely ever turned the puck over. At the same time, Reinbacher’s game also brings more to the table than Engstrom, as the Austrian is a bigger, more physically imposing defender. There is a real possibility that the Montreal Canadiens’ final roster spot on defense was based on who would play better on Saturday night, and given that Engstrom was solid in his team-leading 23:54, while Reinbacher had his struggles with staying disciplined on Saturday night. With that being said, it could explain the decision to go with Engstrom over Reinbacher.

However, there is a more logical reason behind taking Engstrom over Reinbacher. It was well-known that by the end of the 2025-26 season, Engstrom didn’t have anything left to prove in the AHL, after having a dominant season for the Rocket. In 45 AHL games last season, he scored 10 goals and 34 points, leading all Rocket defensemen in scoring. He played in all situations, developing as one of the best two-way defenseman in the AHL. 

Reinbacher is coming off a solid season where he scored five goals and 24 points in 57 games with the Rocket but wasn’t nearly as dominant as Engstrom at the AHL level. It also happened to be Reinbacher’s first healthy season in the AHL, which could be another reason why more seasoning in the AHL will do him some good. With the fact that the 21-year-old Reinbacher still has more to prove at the AHL level, and he didn’t massively outplay the 23-year-old Engstrom, it makes sense why the Montreal Canadiens may feel that the latter is more NHL-ready. Not to mention, Reinbacher’s development has been slowed down due to injuries.

Looking at it from a half-glass-full perspective, Reinbacher has completed his first training camp without getting injured since coming over to North America full-time. At just 21 years old, despite the injuries that set him back, Reinbacher still has a lot of time to reach his potential, and at the very least, he has shown that he could still be a valuable piece for the Canadiens in the future. Starting the season with the Laval Rocket after a great training camp may be hard for Reinbacher, who gave it everything he had and was arguably one of the six best defenseman purely on merit. However, at the same time, being able to get more minutes and a chance to dominate may only make him a better player. It also helps the Canadiens that he is waiver-exempt. While Engstrom is also waiver-exempt, unlike Reinbacher, there isn’t anything that he can gain in the AHL. Another factor can be based on the first official Montreal Canadiens practice: Engstrom was only the seventh defenseman and might not even get a chance to play before Kaiden Guhle returns to the lineup in the next few weeks. 

At the end of the day, the decision for David Reinbacher to return to the AHL instead of Engstrom may be so that the Austrian defender gets the playing time to become an even better player for when the Canadiens are ready to bring him along for a bigger role.