Should We Worry About David Reinbacher’s Progression?

Even though Adam Engstrom has been back with the Rocket for the past 2 weeks, Reinbacher has yet to find the game that he showed early on. Since December 6th, Reinbacher has just 4 assists in his last 18 games while being a -5. In his 14 games prior to that date, he had 3 goals and 9 points with a +7 rating. While he didn’t score any points in his first two games of December, he was still showing great defence, which is why those two games won’t be included in his struggles. Afterwards, he had games where he made big mistakes, which cost his team a couple goals, while not showing anything to prove that he will get out of his offensive slump.

However, is everything really going that badly for the defensive prospect? The reality is there are many conflicting opinions when it comes to Reinbacher. While some analysts like Mathias Brunet think that the Canadiens should use Reinbacher as a trade chip before his value drops. There are some scouts like Grant McKegg who has scouted the 21-year-old defenseman’s game and says that he’s nearing being ready for the NHL. It really seems like to what extent Reinbacher is struggling is subjective depending on how some people see it.

In reality, Reinbacher has struggled with injuries, which has slowed his development as a whole down, but that doesn’t mean he can’t at the very least still become a 2nd pairing defenseman in the NHL similar to the likes of an Adam Larsson, Noah Hanifin, or Ryan McDonagh type; it just may take longer than expected. If he can continue to stay healthy and not have any more injuries set him back for a while, he could be in the NHL within the next year or two. What he needs is just to get more reps at the pro level to be able to develop him as a force defensively at a more consistent level before he’s ready for a role in the NHL. We shouldn’t worry about the offence, as the reality is he will never need to be the guy who produces with the Habs when they will have Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson doing that.

No matter how this turns out with Reinbacher, there will be people who are disappointed, as the truth is he’s never going to live up to what is expected of a 5th overall pick in a market like Montreal, but if the pressure is taken off of him to just focus on his game, there is a chance that he really could turn out as a strong #4 defenseman with the Habs someday.

The fact that he has the qualities to potentially be a shutdown defenseman on the right side is what makes him still valuable to the Canadiens. With that being said, it’s likely growing pains, but with more games he will eventually get out of his slump, I believe. We just need to be patient with him.