As long as the Canadiens keep playing poorly, David Reinbacher’s name will keep coming up

Kent Hughes failed to strengthen his defense by the trade deadline. We're talking about the group of defensemen, of course, but also defensive forwards and goalies.
He may have come close at the blue line, but oh well.
For the situation in front of the net, the club recently called up Jacob Fowler. But whether it's him, Jakub Dobes, or prime Carey Price in goal, one thing remains: the goalies are playing behind a defense that is currently porous.
Just yesterday, it was glaringly obvious. In a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, the Canadiens' defensemen seemed to have forgotten the basics of hockey.
Kaiden Guhle falling and Lane Hutson breaking his man-to-man coverage to leave the front of the net open on the game-winning goal? I've seen hockey that's more… let's say, competent.

CUTTER We take the late lead!
What a play by Viel! #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/a1myTiLUsl
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) March 16, 2026
This is just one example among many, but a quick glance confirms it: clearly, the Habs' defensemen struggled quite a bit again yesterday.
And the man-to-man defensive system has once again been called into question. Martin St-Louis may talk about “risk management” needing to improve, but the guys are out of sync.

At this point, it's too late to go out and find reinforcements on the market. What the Canadiens can do is call up Jayden Struble and cut back on some guys' ice time, maybe?
But will that change everything? Of course not. Alternatively, what the Canadiens could do is recall David Reinbacher, who's been playing well with the Laval Rocket for the past few weeks.
His name has been circulating quite a bit over the past few days… and if the Habs keep playing like this, more and more people are going to call for the Austrian to be called up, just to see if that might help.

Is it time to call up David Reinbacher, given that the defense has looked vulnerable in the last two games?
Since Brendan Gallagher is sitting out, Martin St-Louis might as well take the opportunity to give Kaiden Guhle a break, as he's going through a rough patch… pic.twitter.com/LTZXXe8462
— Patrick Guillet (@PatGuillet) March 16, 2026

If the Canadiens called up Jacob Fowler to play in net, why not call up another top prospect to try to address another major issue within the team? What's good for the dog should be good for the cat. Right?
Oh, by the way: the Canadiens called up Jacob Fowler last week, even though we thought the defenseman would be the one. Nicolas Cloutier then told us that starting March 16, the Habs should be able to call up Reinbacher without having to send Fowler down.
And what's the date today? Exactly.

The puzzle facing Kent Hughes between now and the end of the season looks complicated. But not insurmountable.
Hage, Fowler, Reinbacher, Montembeault, Laine… here's everything the GM of #CH will be able to do in the coming days. https://t.co/mjY45jrXIo
— Nicolas Cloutier (@NCloutierTVA) March 11, 2026
But that's not all we should take away from last night's game. There are several other points worth noting, both on the positive and negative sides.
For example?

1. Cole Caufield may have scored his 39th goal of the season, but yesterday he was in a bad mood when he spoke with the media. The loss clearly stung. And that's understandable.
2. Kirby Dach got injured again. He's dealing with upper-body pain, and it's unclear whether he'll be able to play in the coming days, given his history of injuries. Losing him wouldn't be ideal, but it would open up a spot in the lineup.
3. On a positive note, we have to mention Juraj Slafkovsky's superb play on his captain's goal. The Slovakian protected the puck admirably, and it paid off. Seeing the big winger back on the first line is a good thing.

– Juraj Slafkovsky with a great power move, swatting away Jackson Lacombe like a little bug
– Captain Nick Suzuki comes up clutch as always pic.twitter.com/jvC6lAXTdv
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 16, 2026

4. The Habs went 0-for-7 on the power play in their two games (both losses, actually) over the weekend. A little opportunism would have helped. A little team spirit, too, for that matter.

You check Fowler head-on and no one comes to your aid. Shout-out to Danault for shoving his opponent a bit, but seriously… It must hurt to get hit in the groin.
— Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) March 16, 2026
5. Brendan Gallagher, who certainly wasn't the worst player on his team yesterday, was likely fired up by his absence against the Sharks. He was also possibly fresher and more available yesterday.
We'll see if this happens again at some point. After all, it's always the first decision of this kind (leaving a veteran out for a game) that's the hardest to make—not the second.

OvertimeToday is a day off for the Habs. Normally, this happens on Sundays, but since the Ducks were in town yesterday, taking a day off for Memorial Day was impossible.
Tomorrow, the pesky Bruins will be in town. On Thursday, the team will head to Detroit before wrapping up the week at home on Saturday against Patrick Roy's Islanders. Could the Habs bring him back for a four-way showdown?
As we speak, the Canadiens are still in third place in their division. But since the Bruins are two points behind the Habs (as are the Red Wings, for that matter), we can all agree that the upcoming games will be… um… important?