Over the 4 Nations break, Canadiens star prospect, David Reinbacher was taken off the non-roster injured reserve and reassigned to Laval and played on Wednesday. So what should the Canadiens do with him for the rest of the season?
They need to bring the prospect along slowly. When he played the other night he got nice reviews and that’s great. What they need to do is regulate his minutes. He has to get into AHL shape and then if he’s proving sound they can raise it. I would start the bar at 15 minutes a game for the foreseeable future.
Playing defense at the AHL level is a hard job. He only has 12 games of experience and he needs to cover some fast players. I think the physical side of his game will come along the fastest but the rest will need work, especially with his timing.
If he can be a plus player with around half a point-per-game average, slightly under is fine, that’s good. Maybe bring him up for his Canadiens debut at the end of their season if he continues to look good. That’s a good carrot to waive to any young player.
Reinbacher will turn 21 next year. I expect he will be given the full training camp, preseason games, and some NHL games at the beginning of the season until they can decide how he looks after a great summer of training. Will he be NHL ready? I wouldn’t count on it but giving him some games and eventually sending him down to Laval to become an All-Star is fine. Some teams want to rush a player and since he’s had an injury there’s no reason to do that.