CH Prospects: David Reinbacher Ranks First Ahead of Hage, According to NHL.com

Mathis Therrien
CH Prospects: David Reinbacher Ranks First Ahead of Hage, According to NHL.com
Credit: Steven Ryan/NHLI via Getty Images

Every year, the National Hockey League's official website publishes several articles on each NHL team a few weeks before the start of the season.

Each team has its own feature day, and the articles have been published in alphabetical order by team since August 1, which means today is the Montreal Canadiens' feature day.

The NHL website has provided us with five very interesting articles looking ahead to the 2026–2027 season, featuring several analyses, some of which are quite surprising.

In fact, in the article on the Habs' top five prospects, a surprise in the rankings was immediately apparent: Michael Hage isn't ranked first.

Although most Habs fans and analysts consider Hage to be the best prospect in the team's farm system, it's actually David Reinbacher who's ranked first.

Indeed, as clearly stated in Adam Kimelman's article on the NHL's official website, Reinbacher has been named the Habs' top prospect.

The 21-year-old right-handed defenseman had a solid season in the American Hockey League with the Laval Rocket, which ultimately earned him a call-up to the NHL with the Habs, where he performed very well in his two games.

Reinbacher was solid, recording his first NHL point while logging 15 minutes of ice time against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Austrian's first taste of the NHL was encouraging, and the fact that he's likely to be called up fairly quickly in the event of an injury next season surely helped place him ahead of Michael Hage, who decided to return to play one final season in the NCAA.

Reinbacher's availability, his size (6 feet 3 inches and 207 pounds), his skating ability, and his hockey sense are the key strengths that led NHL.com to rank him first.

This is positive news for the right-handed defenseman, but I still believe that, overall, Habs fans have more faith in Hage—who dominated the NCAA and the World Junior Championship—than in Reinbacher, who has dealt with numerous injuries throughout his development.


In Brief

– Stay tuned.

– CF Montréal in action tonight.

– Read more.

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