Don’t rule out the possibility of seeing David Reinbacher in Laval for another year

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Don’t rule out the possibility of seeing David Reinbacher in Laval for another year
Credit: Getty Images

Currently, the Canadiens have a defensive corps with a lot of certainty.

Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, and Kaiden Guhle are signed to long-term contracts. If they are healthy (which is never a given for Guhle), they play.

Alexandre Carrier is still there for another year and a half. And until proven otherwise, the Canadiens have never looked to remove him from their lineup since his arrival over a year ago.

Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble, both left-handed, are depth defensemen. They don't play every game.

This season, when the Canadiens wanted to call up a guy who wouldn't play, Marc Del Gaizo was the lucky one. And prospect Adam Engstrom was called up to get some practice.

Until proven otherwise, looking at the players' contracts, the roster could be exactly the same in 2026-2027, if Kent Hughes wants it to be— except for Del Gaizo… but another veteran can fill that role.

Will there be any additions between now and next October? Will Xhekaj or Struble move on to other teams? Who knows?

And in all this, we have to ask ourselves what this means for David Reinbacher. The defenseman, whose progress has clearly stagnated, will not have an easy time in the coming months.

Will the Canadiens trade him? I would be surprised if they did. But I'm not saying it's impossible.

On this subject, Marco D'Amico said that he doesn't expect the habs to trade their prospect, but that the door isn't closed either. Basically, if there was a time to do it, it would be in the short term.

D'Amico (Processus podcast) said he thinks the Habs are more likely to keep Reinbacher in the AHL in 2026-2027 than to trade him. Note: that doesn't mean he'll definitely go to Laval next year, though.

Reading between the lines, it's clear that the habs haven't given up on Reinbacher and are still hoping to see the fifth overall pick in 2023 blossom.

To do so, he will have to play well enough in Laval (and hope for injuries at the top) to justify his place in the sun.

It's also important to keep in mind that, at some point, the Canadiens will definitely want to test their young man if they keep him in their organization. That much is clear.

But tostay inthe Bettman circuit, he'll have to perform at a high level. There will be no shortcuts, as the habs don't exactly have time to mess around: the rebuild is coming to an end.


Overtime

– Once again, Alex Newhook skated this morning. Our colleague Patrick Guillet was in Brossard to see him.

– Hunter Jones has been called up as backup.

– Interesting.

– It's a good one.Why would he want to leave?

– Too bad.

– Artemi Panarin: So we can forget about the Stars?

– What do you think?

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!