Montreal Canadiens: Betting on Reinbacher

There are few things Montreal Canadiens fans do better than making up their minds early. Sometimes before a prospect has even unpacked his suitcase.

David Reinbacher knows all about that.

The moment the Montreal Canadiens brass stepped to the podium and Carey Price struggled to announced his name with the fifth overall pick in 2023, the debate began. It wasn’t really about Reinbacher at all. It was about who he wasn’t. Matvei Michkov was sitting there. Montreal Canadiens fans saw highlight reels, dazzling hands, and future scoring titles dancing in their heads. Reinbacher represented something far less exciting. He was six-foot-three, played defence, made smart decisions, and rarely ended up on the nightly highlight shows. In other words, he was about as flashy as a tax return.

And yet, championships have been won with players exactly like him.

For some fans, the verdict was rendered before he ever put on a Canadiens jersey. Fair or not, Reinbacher has spent the past three years being compared to another player rather than being judged on his own merits. It’s a difficult standard for any young player to overcome, particularly one whose development has been interrupted by injuries.

We live in an era of instant gratification. We order supper from our phones and become impatient when it takes twenty-five minutes to arrive. Hockey prospects aren’t much different in the minds of some fans. If they aren’t dominating by twenty-one, many begin reaching for the dreaded “bust” label.

Player development doesn’t care much for our timelines. Nick Suzuki wasn’t expected to become Montreal’s captain this quickly. Cole Caufield wasn’t supposed to score fifty goals after some wondered if his size would limit him. Juraj Slafkovsky needed patience that many weren’t prepared to give him. Lane Hutson was supposedly too small until he wasn’t. Every prospect writes his own story.

Reinbacher’s story has simply been delayed by circumstances beyond his control. Injuries stole valuable development time, something that’s easily forgotten when fans scroll through statistics and compare players of the same draft class. Development isn’t linear. Sometimes it’s a straight line. Sometimes it’s a winding country road filled with construction signs and detours. Ask anyone who’s lived long enough and they’ll tell you life works much the same way.

What’s particularly intriguing heading into training camp is that reports suggest Reinbacher has attacked his off-season with purpose. He’s reportedly training to arrive in the best shape of his young career. A stronger body, improved conditioning, and greater maturity can make a remarkable difference for a player whose game relies more on positioning, skating, timing, and strength than pure offensive instincts.

And let’s remember what kind of player we’re talking about here. Big, right-shot, two-way defensemen don’t exactly grow on trees. In fact, if they did, every NHL general manager would be planting forests. They’re among the most coveted assets in hockey because they’re so difficult to acquire. Teams spend years searching for them and millions of dollars paying them once they arrive.