It was a spirited practice at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard as 38 Montreal Canadiens prospects took to the ice for the second day of development camp.
The Canadiens development camp continued on Sunday at the Bell Sports Complex with the first day of on-ice activities for the 38 participants.
Forwards Florian Xhekaj, Blake Biondi, Jared Davidson, and goalie Jacob Fowler did not participate due to minor injuries, per the organization.
Focusing on the Positive
David Reinbacher was in Brossard for his first on-ice activity with the organization and is pinching himself given the opportunity. "It's so special. I always looked up to guys like Cole Caufield, Suzuki, Carey Price, all those guys and now you're here and they're texting you. It's crazy. I can't believe it. It's so nice and (I'm) enjoying the moment," he said at the end of the second day.
The Canadiens first round pick of 2023, and the rest of his teammates got a hard day's worth of work in Brossard. "It was hard but it's the process, get to know the smaller rink, get to know each and everyone, the practice, the staff."
Reinbacher, who was born in Austria and played in Switzerland, does not have much experience playing on a small North American size rink. "It's something different. It's faster, it's harder, it's quicker. You have to be making quick decisions. I think it's a process on how fast you can use get used to it. It's not time to put your head down. It's time to learn and get used to it, and then it will be good," he said about making the adjustment.
The 18-year-old spent a lot of time on the ice Sunday speaking to Lane Hutson. "He's awesome. He's a funny guy. He's pretty reserved, but he's obviously a really good player, really good with his stick on his body, and a really great guy," Hutson said about Reinbacher.
The duo represented their respective countries at this year's World Junior Championships and Reinbacher left a good impression with Hutson. "He's a big, strong defenseman. He's really smart and he's really hard to beat. It's really hard to get a puck off of him and he's really good at getting the puck off of you, so he's someone who's really steady and could play a lot of minutes, too," Hutson evaluated his new teammate.
Reinbacher felt welcomed by the organization, his teammates and by the fans in his first face-to-face interactions. The defenseman had received negative comments from some unhappy fans after the Canadiens called his name on Tuesday at the draft in Nashville.
"I read the good messages. So thanks to all the fans that wrote good messages that made me feel welcomed, especially from the staff, from the owner, the GM that welcomed me."
The 18-year old doesn't want to give attention to the negative fans and wants to prove them wrong with his performance on the ice. "If they're talking negative, I will probably prove them wrong one day. I will work for it. I'm excited to be here. It's the next step for my dream to play one game in the NHL with this franchise."
Reinbacher got a quick taste of the pressure of playing in a big hockey market in North America and he acknowledged that it's different compared to playing for Kloten HC in Switzerland.
"It's something different for sure. It's a huge community here. The fans here, they're going crazy. But that's also nice and if the fans are behind you, it gives you more energy on the ice. It's something special for sure. It's something different to Kloten, but I'm thankful for that and enjoying it."
Size Doesn't Matter
Lane Hutson is in his second appearance at development camp and was impressed by the group in Brossard. "It was good. It was fun. A couple of these guys haven't been skating for a couple weeks and you couldn't tell out there. Everyone came ready and came prepared."
The defenseman is coming off an impressive season where he collected 48 points in 39 games for Boston University in the NCAA. He added several awards to his record including being named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, as the top collegiate player.
"There's bigger, stronger guys and finding different ways to defend by using your feet and your stick. That's something I felt like I've gotten better at throughout the year and I'm gonna continue to get better at hopefully," Hutson described the adjustment to the university level.
Hutson was drafted 62nd overall by the Canadiens in 2022 and one of the reasons he was not selected higher was due to his 5-foot-9 inch frame. He has regularly faced bigger players throughout his career.
"I mean people are gonna have their opinions on it. I really don't look at it that way. I'll be 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10 and I won't be a certain weight and now people are gonna comment on it. So either way, I'll focus on what I'm doing and when you get on the ice everyone's the same size."
Between his studies and hitting the ice at Boston University, Hutson had the opportunity to watch a lot of Canadiens games and two defensemen stood out for him.
"[Kaiden Guhle] logs minutes, really good with the puck on his stick. Jordan Harris is a really smart player, really good with the puck on the stick as well. And they're not slouches defensively either."
Excited to Join Family
On Thursday, the Canadiens made Florian Xhekaj part of the organization by selecting him in the fourth round, 101st overall. Florian is now in the same franchise with his older brother Arber.
"It's super cool. It's an honor being here drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. And, I'm super excited and the whole family is excited for me. Me and my brother being in the same organization is awesome."
Xhekaj projected himself to be selected in the fourth round but did not know which team would take a chance on him. He felt that he had good meetings with the Canadiens heading into the draft.
The 19-year old was not at Bridgestone Arena to hear his name being called. His family was not able to go to Nashville. He decided to treat that day as a regular day and was at the gym when the Canadiens selected him.
"I was just trying to keep my mind off it. Even if I didn't get picked, I didn't want to overthink stuff, so I was trying to take it as a normal day and go to the gym and do that kind of stuff."
Xhekaj kept his phone close at the gym and was working out with a couple of friends when he got the news. His brother was getting a haircut and reached out via video to congratulate his younger sibling.
The entire family went out for a steak dinner to celebrate the selection. Arber picked up the tab for the meal.
Last season, Xhekaj registered 25 points in 68 games for the Bulldogs in the OHL. He wants to have his own identity and not be compared to his older brother.
"I bring a really competitive game. I don't like to lose puck battles or puck races. I'm a power forward that likes to use my body to protect pucks and take pucks to the net and I have a good offensive game, I can score," Xhekaj described himself.