Keeping David Reinbacher in Europe: a way of distancing him from the fans who hate him

The Canadiens had a draft full of stories. What stories?

The one about seeing three goalies, including one from the QMJHL, selected. The story of two Russians coming to Montreal, proving that it really was Matvei Michkov we didn’t want in town. To see Arber Xhekaj’s brother drafted. Seeing a few older guys at the end of the draft.

But THE biggest story is clearly David Reinbacher.

The fact that the Austrian defenseman was drafted at the expense of Matvei Michkov was the talk of the town. In fact, to a fault, it meant that the honeymoon between fans and management was over.

For my part, I’m very happy to see Reinbacher in town. Instead of seeing a forward not as good as Michkov come to town, the best defenseman of his year belongs to the club and fills a need.

Two birds with one stone, eh?

I know there’s still a hole to fill up front, but Kent Hughes isn’t thinking short-term. Clearly, he believes he’s in a position, in the long term, to go after a striker superior to the likes of Ryan Leonard and Zach Benson.

Or at least, a guy who better suits the club’s needs.

But even so, the CH is criticized because the fans wanted Michkov. That’s why the criticism of Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton is so intense right now.

I prefer to look at it the other way around. After all, the Ducks, Blue Jackets, Sharks, Habs and Coyotes, clubs that need talent, all passed on Michkov. Don’t you think the guy has huge red flags? That he doesn’t fit into everyone’s culture?

It wasn’t at the field hockey level that the Russian was ignored, we’ll tell you that much.

But the fact remains, despite all that, that Habs fans are mostly disappointed that the Austrian defenseman was selected by the Canandian.

Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. That’s the beauty of sport. The problem is when the opinions of both sides aren’t listened to in a debate.

Actually, they’re not. The problem lies elsewhere.

Right now, the problem is that fans are so unhappy with Reinbacher’s selection that he’s getting a lot of negative feedback from fans.

According to Arpon Basu, this is one of the reasons why the Habs are considering leaving Reinbacher in Switzerland for another year, so as not to bring him to Laval or Montreal right away with the CH fans who really don’t like him.

The problem is that the fans’ passion is too intense at the moment. It seems to have scared Pierre-Luc Dubois a little, and we wonder if this will hurt management for the rest of the rebuild.

The disagreement can be expressed in other ways. After all, you don’t have to agree with HuGo’s field hockey decisions, but…

All that to say, if part of the thinking about Reinbacher’s 2023-2024 season is done on the fear of exposing the jewel to the fans (the other part being the caliber of play), that’s a significant problem. Montreal passion is important, but this is too much.

This means that inappropriate comments aren’t just exceptional cases, and that they’re not written with the utmost respect. For an 18-year-old kid , that’s a lot.

And above all, what fascinates me is that the guy, who is the best defender of his vintage, is not a celery stalk. He’s often compared to Moritz Seider, which to me should be a pretty interesting comparison, don’t you think?

As for the defenseman, he’ll do whatever the CH wants. He’d like to stay in Europe to finish his studies, but if he were to come to Laval or Montreal, he’d simply finish them from a distance. He’ll adapt.

Right now, there are several sources of dissatisfaction among fans, not all of whom liked the draft that saw Ethan Gauthier head to Tampa Bay with the Canadiens’ second-round pick.

Will the discontent subside?

In gusts

– Speaking of the draft.

– Doesn’t he want to win anymore? After all, even at 50% salary, who’s going to take him at the deadline?

– None of the Blue Jays will be starting.

– Here’s one who’s happy.

– It shakes.