David Reinbacher already in the good graces of his new coach

After a game in which David Reinbacher was horrible last week, Kloten decided to fire his coach, Quebecer Gerry Fleming.

From that point on, we might have started to worry about David Reinbacher’s playing time. After all, Fleming knows a lot of people in the CH organization.

But after two games, we can breathe a little easier. The CH protégé seems to be in the good graces of his coach, who is also his GM. As Chatel Thibaud pointed out in a discussion with Marc Dumont, Larry Mitchell uses Reinbacher in all game situations: 5-on-5, the first wave of the power play and shorthanded.

At the start of the season, the Austrian saw a little ice time on the second wave of the power play, but that’s it. So this is good news.

Here’s our chat with analyst @Thibaud_Chatel, a very informative discussion on David Reinbacher’s development.

The Reinbacher talk starts at about 8:00, and then I go back to discussing Slafkovsky’s great game toward the end of the show. #GoHabsGo
https://t.co/EWAJCRMcbE

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 25, 2023

Yesterday, the defenseman’s team beat the best team in the league, Freiburg, 5-3. And Reinbacher, who picked up an assist, his third point of the 2023-2024 season, was the second most-used defenseman (20:38). Now reunited on the first pair with Nathan Beaulieu, it was the former Canadian who played the most among defensemen (20:49).

This pairing impressed Thibaud, who is a hockey analyst and founder of Magnus Corsi, an advanced statistics website. As he pointed out, Beaulieu and Reinbacher maintained a 68% success percentage in terms of expected goals, while all the other defensemen on the team kept that figure at just 40%.

Even today, the right-hander has been used for 18:55. Only two strikers have been used more than him. Although he didn’t add any points to his tally this afternoon, unlike yesterday, he ended the game with three shots on goal.

The stats may not reflect the offensive contribution of the fifth pick of the last draft, but he seems, at the very least, to enjoy his coach’s confidence. Defensively, he’s fulfilling his role, although Dumont’s guest noted that the defenseman is struggling a little to adjust his skating stroke after putting on weight this summer.

Thibaud also shared his views on the big back’s near future with the former CH employee. According to him, after Kloten’s elimination this season, Reinbacher could join the Laval Rocket, and next year he’ll probably begin his journey there.

If these predictions come true, fans could be keeping a close eye on their new defenseman.