It's decision time in Montreal. Did David Reinbacher do enough to earn a roster spot with the Montreal Canadiens? It appears not as he was assigned to the Laval Rocket on Sunday afternoon.
A couple of standouts emerged at the Montreal Canadiens’ camp. Up front, Florian Xhekaj has raised more than a few eyebrows with his consistent play, intense effort, and forecheck. On the blueline, David Reinbacher turned heads. The fifth overall pick in the 2023 draft may have seen his development slowed by a slew of injuries, but he’s fully healthy now and has shown what he can do in three preseason games.
Kaiden Guhle’s injury couldn’t have come at a better time for Reinbacher. It opened the door for him, and he didn’t just step into the space; he opened it with authority. So much so that he even got an audition to play alongside Lane Hutson in the Kraft Hockeyville game in Trois-Rivières. The Canadiens’ top defenseman was impressed with the youngster's play and had nothing but positive comments about his young partner after the game.
Yet, on Sunday, after putting a first group of players on waivers, the Canadiens reassigned 10 players to the Laval Rocket, including Reinbacher. He was joined by Owen Beck, Jacob Fowler, Dillan Bentley, Laurent Dauphin, Jared Davidson, Filip Mesar, Luke Mittelstadt, Owen Protz, and Tyler Thorpe. In other words, Florian Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom are the only two players who aren't on NHL contracts and are still with the team. Unless Kaiden Guhle is put on injured reserve, the Canadiens would have 24 players on their roster rather than the 23 permitted. Meaning there's still a move to make before Monday at 5:00 PM.
Meanwhile, Alex Belzile and Kaapo Kahkonen highlighted the group placed on waivers, along with Brett Berard, Hunter McKown, Sasha Pastujov, Samuel Poulin, Ethan Samson, Maksymillian Szuber, and Reilly Walsh.
Seeing Xhekaj stay up is surprising, given how many forwards are under contract, and Reinbacher heading to Laval is just as surprising. Throughout camp, he appeared to have the inside lane on Engstrom. Perhaps the organization would rather Engstrom sit as their seventh defenseman than Reinbacher if they decided to play Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj?
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
