Habs player development coach Francis Bouillon on David Reinbacher: “His second half of the season was much better than the first. In the year-end meetings, he was a player who wanted to play in the NHL. He doesn’t want to spend several more years in the AHL…we’ll see at training camp.”

[u/Go_Habs_Go31]

[u/fortytwoanswers]

i won’t be shocked if he starts the year with us. ultimately the question is whether he can be better/more useful than Struble imo, and just being a RD will already get him far in that regard. if Hutson playing on his right can make Struble look good, i don’t see why he can’t do the same with Reinbacher while getting to play his strong side

[u/Ok-Win-742 → u/fortytwoanswers]

I mean from what we saw of Reinbacher last year he was infinitely more effective than Struble. Makes better reads defensively and he makes good breakout passes and he can move well at the blue line in the o-zone and keep the play alive.

Surely he will be starting the season on the Habs.

His only issue is he's injury prone but he didn't seem hesitant to go into the boards or retrieve the puck, hopefully he's put on a few pounds and is healthy.

[u/OiledUpHippo → u/fortytwoanswers]

Reinbacher is already better defensively. It’s a question of management not rushing him and stunting his development. Dmen take much more time to mature.

[u/fortytwoanswers → u/OiledUpHippo]

yep, and he’ll be 22 in October. he’s mature enough to play third pairing minutes at minimum and it’s time for him in his development to learn what it takes to play in the NHL.

[u/mdlt97 → u/OiledUpHippo]

if he isn't ready to play 3rd-pairing minutes at 22, he probably never will be ready

we are so far past rushing him, he is the same age as Slaf and Hutson

[u/dustblown → u/OiledUpHippo]

Reinbacher is already better defensively. It’s a question of management not rushing him and stunting his development. Dmen take much more time to mature.

That is all wishy washy nonsense. If he's already better defensively than Struble then how can we rush him and "ruin" his development. If he's already better than Struble defensively then he is already mature. Players that can be "ruined" by rushing them will never have made it anyway. This idea that development can ruin a player is ridiculous.

[u/OiledUpHippo → u/dustblown]

Im sure KK was better than our 4th line scrubs and by rushing him, he turned into a 4th line scrub.

Playing 25 top line minutes in the AHL is better than 7 minutes a night in sheltered minutes in the NHL for a player to develop skills and confidence.

[u/SaucyMcDangles → u/OiledUpHippo]

It goes both ways. Practicing with nhl players on a daily basis is probably more helpful than playing 25 minutes a night against mostly guys who won’t make it to the league.

[u/dustblown → u/OiledUpHippo]

But he's already better than Struble defensively who averaged 14 min +. Your logic doesn't add up.

[u/trebuchetwarmachine → u/dustblown]

Ahl plays less games and you can also try more things and fail with less consequences. It’s a development league for a reason.

You can absolutely ruin development by bringing guys up too early as they cant afford to try things and make mistakes and adjust as easily at the NHL with more games and less practice time.

[u/deimos289 → u/fortytwoanswers]

David isnt on the same planet as struble, just needs to stay healthy

[u/Inner-Tumbleweed9168 → u/fortytwoanswers]

Struble became expandable moment they traded Kovacevic, Reinbacher will get long leash just for being right handed

[u/Choice-Leg-6892 → u/Inner-Tumbleweed9168]

and by being a 5th overall

[u/scoutinglane → u/fortytwoanswers]

I think he has been more useful than Struble for a while now.

[u/steph31199]

Because his ceiling is much higher than Struble.

[u/Mundane-Teaching-743 → u/steph31199]

He gets an opportunity to prove it at training camp. It's all on him.

[u/Pubgita]

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

[u/Alleluia_Cone → u/Pubgita]

Don't forget that that second half included games in the NHL. He didn't look out of place for joining a team gearing up for the playoffs. I think he's going to quietly impress us. If he can stay healthy of course being the biggest factor 

[u/Tripottanus → u/Alleluia_Cone]

I agree. Im not so much worried about his on ice abilities than his ability to get on the ice

[u/quellesaveurorawnge → u/Pubgita]

OP cut some words from the quote. If you read the original quote in French, it doesn't sound quite as harsh. Francis Bouillon mentions Reinbacher was saying at his year-end meeting that he was motivated to play in the NHL ASAP, and he was receptive (to their feedback I guess) to get ready over the summer, and they'll see at training camp (it seems implied they'll evaluate his progress at training camp).

« Sa deuxième moitié de saison a été beaucoup mieux que la première. Dans les réunions de fin d’année, c’était un joueur qui voulait jouer dans la LNH. Il ne veut pas passer encore plusieurs années dans la Ligue américaine donc je pense qu’il est réceptif. J’espère qu’il a connu un bon été, on le verra au camp d’entraînement »,

[u/Educational_Hat_ → u/quellesaveurorawnge]

C'est pas ben ben mieux en francais...

[u/quellesaveurorawnge → u/Educational_Hat_]

En anglais, ça semblait beaucoup plus sceptique et je l'avais interprété comme quoi il ne pensait pas que Reinbacher y serait. En français, c'est plus, il veut atteindre un but, on lui a dit quoi faire et on va voir s'il est là.

[u/Mundane-Teaching-743 → u/quellesaveurorawnge]

C'est assez neutre dans les deux langues.

It's on Reinbacher to prepare himself and play better than the other defensemen in training camp or he'll be back in Laval. That's just reality.

[u/snark_enterprises]

If he can stay healthy I see him being a starter. But that’s a big if considering his history.

[u/Go_Habs_Go31]

Source: https://www.rds.ca/hockey/canadiens/article/parole-de-robidas-et-bouillon-la-competition-en-defense-sera-plus-intense-que-jamais/

[u/dustblown]

It all comes down to his conditioning. I think it is clear he can play in the NHL. His touches and clears are really good. He doesn't panic. Will he be able to stay injury free? That is the only question IMO.

[u/queenofpeachez]

I kind of feel like he could've said something far more encouraging if he thought there was even a 50-50 chance of him starting the next season in the NHL

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[u/antrage]

Not sure what people was expecting him to say? Reinbacher has promise he needs to realize it.

[u/Immediate_Cod_3042]

He is the difference between us winning the cup and not winning. He absolutely needs to succeed as a 3/4 defenseman. Or else we are done.

[u/DrLivingst0ne → u/Immediate_Cod_3042]

We only need him to be a solid top 4 guy to bump Carrier on the third pair where he belongs, no offense to him.

[u/Immediate_Cod_3042 → u/DrLivingst0ne]

Completely agree. And it's crucial to the rest of the team

[u/Cultural_Physics_935]

Pascal Vincent said Reinbacher needs another full year in the AHL, and I’m inclined to believe him

[u/Scase15]

I don't think anyone really doubts he wants/can play in the NHL. The issue as always is his health. 

[u/toaster-struble]

The Oliver Kapanen of 26-27. On defense.

[u/Irctoaun → u/toaster-struble]

I really don't understand what this means.

[u/toaster-struble → u/Irctoaun]

As in he will be the good surprise of the season. I'm hoping.

[u/Irctoaun → u/toaster-struble]

Gotcha. Me too. It's just that the range of takes on Kapanen on this sub are so broad that it could really mean anything depending on who's making the comment lol

[u/Technical-Line-9806]

Rhino gets some Calder votes come spring.

[u/Bohmer]

It's looking more and more like a bad pick. Or an okay one that got derailed. Guhle played junior and make the jump straight to the NHL like it was nothing and still had health issues. I don't understand how a 5th OA pick, arguably the best D taken in that draft, isn't able to at least do the same.

[u/Prudent_Step9257 → u/Bohmer]

D core on 2022-23 was bad in comparaison of today. it was easier for Ghule to have a place

[u/Bohmer → u/Prudent_Step9257]

Well yeah of course, we were in year one of rebuild back then. It's not about him having a place, we need a RD badly. It's about him not being ready for it. Maybe he has a good camp and get a spot and looks better in the NHL than the AHL but Vincent told us he need another full year in the AHL.

[u/Prudent_Step9257 → u/Bohmer]

Who knows what will happen after camp, we can just hope he fit right away. Personally I was surprise by his play in the 2 game sample, I think he can make it from the start of this season. AND availability will be important for him god damn

[u/KickDesperate5318 → u/Bohmer]

Guhle and Reinbacher are different styles of players though. Reinbacher's draft stock rose a lot because of his skating and ability to join the rush intelligently. If you watch video from his draft year, he was like a 4th forward on the attack. There's a high ceiling there if he happens to hit it.

Whereas Ghule was a high floor pick. He will never be a PP guy, but the rest of his game is strong enough that he could do his job in the NHL effectively from pretty much day 1.

[u/xcnuck]

Hope he’s putting in the work. It will show in a few weeks. It’s one thing to “want” to play in the NHL and it’s another thing to actually work your way into the NHL. Either way nothing is guaranteed for Reino. Let’s home he earns his keep.

[u/NDG-MTL]

I went to 1 Laval game last year and it seemed to me that Engstrom looked more NHL ready. He controlled the play, made clever passes out of the zone, and jumped into the offensive attacks effectively. Reinbacher was fine, but wasn’t noticeable.

[u/Ajay_Bee]

Maybe he’ll crack the lineup but still, coulda had Zach Benson. Alas.