Pascal Vincent sings (once again) the praises of David Reinbacher

Michaël Petit
Pascal Vincent sings (once again) the praises of David Reinbacher
Credit: x @TheAHL

Unfortunately for David Reinbacher, multiple injuries have clearly delayed his development.

It's extremely difficult to reach your full potential when you're always one step behind due to injury.

He missed a dozen games at the start of the season with the Laval Rocket, but still managed 12 points in 23 AHL games.

We know that his Laval head coach, Pascal Vincent, isn't afraid to praise him for what he brings to the table when he's healthy.

Vincent first began singing his praises in his first game with the Rocket. He did the same a few weeks later.

Vincent once again praised the talent of his young defenseman and spoke of his future:

“He's going to have a great, long career. I'm 100% sure of it – Pascal Vincent

Arpon Basu reported in his most recent piece on The Athletic, following an interview with Pascal Vincent.

In this text, we understand that Vincent has a lot of nice things to say about the Austrian defender (and rightly so). Reino has a lot of talent and his intelligence is truly outstanding.

According to Vincent, his mindset and potential are exceptional. You can see that he's a good guy who loves hockey and wants to keep improving.

On the other hand, injuries are also very hard on the mind of a talented young prospect. It slows you down and you have to take a step back in your development when you come back to play.

Basu drew a comparison between the development of Adam Engstrom and the Austrian. Although their playing styles are somewhat similar, their strengths aren't quite the same. Here's what Vincent had to say about the two young defensemen:

“For Engstrom, his strengths are his ability to avoid checking, his quickness, and agility. For Reinbacher, it's his brain—his ability to read the game.” – Pascal Vincent

Both defensemen have great potential, but why is the 5th overall pick still in the AHL, while Engstrom, a 3rd-round pick, is already playing for the big club?

Vincent gave some answers to this question in his interview with Basu. First, there's the fact that Engstrom is a year older, but more importantly, Engstrom hasn't been injured like Reino was and has been able to continue his development at a steady pace. What's more, Engstrom has more than twice as much North American experience as Reinbacher.

It seems so, in the long run.

Reinbacher really does have an exceptional hockey IQ, and that's what's going to set him up for an excellent professional career. He sees games in advance, doesn't commit many turnovers, and does everything very well: exactly the right profile for a coach. He's not great at anything (except intelligence, of course), but he doesn't really have any faults, apart from the fact that he's injured a little too often.

Let's see what the Austrian has in store for the rest of the season.


Overtime

– Encouraging words from Slovakia's coach ahead of the clash with Canada.

– Phew… At least he can tackle, unlike Cole Caufield…

– The players' entrance is really weird considering it's for the Winter Classic.

– Those with a younger brother or brothers know what Cole Beaudoin means.

– This kid's gonna be really good.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!