Cowan: Canadiens bank on healthy David Reinbacher to blossom into NHLer

Ottawa Citizen

15 hours ago

At first, the hit didn't look like anything serious.
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During a pre-season game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre on Sept. 28, Canadiens defenceman David Reinbacher dumped the puck into the offensive zone after carrying it over the red line and was hit by Marshall Rifai, a Beaconsfield native. Reinbacher fell backward into the boards and injured his left knee badly enough to require surgery.
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Reinbacher, the No. 5 overall pick at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, didn't play again until late February with the AHL's Laval Rocket.
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'The guy came and I tried to protect myself,' Reinbacher said Thursday about the hit from Rifai when Rocket players met with the media for the last time this season after getting swept by the Charlotte Checkers in the Eastern Conference final. 'I kind of hooked in the boards with my heel and I fell down. I heard a click right away in my knee. I stood up and tried to finish the shift, but I couldn't put weight on (it). I jumped over the boards and I knew, OK, it's over.'
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Life has not been easy for the 20-year-old Austrian since the Canadiens drafted him. Many Canadiens fans were upset the team didn't draft forward Matvei Michkov instead and expressed their anger on social media. Michkov posted 26-37-63 totals in 80 games this season as a rookie with the Philadelphia Flyers, who took him with the No. 7 overall pick at the 2023 draft.
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Reinbacher struggled during the 2023-24 season with Kloten HC in the Swiss National League, posting 1-10-11 totals in 35 games to go along with a minus-15 rating. He also missed time with knee and hand injuries. This season, Reinbacher was limited to 10 regular-season games with the Rocket, posting 2-3-5 totals and a plus-5. In 13 playoff games, he had 2-4-6 totals and a minus-2 rating.
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While it's still too early to say the Canadiens made a mistake drafting Reinbacher — who brings added value as a right-hand shot on the blue line — things aren't looking good at this point. Reinbacher, 6-foot-3 and 207 pounds, said his knee is 90-95 per cent healed.
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'There's a little swelling still in there, which is bothering me a bit,' he said. 'But I think that's part of the process. It wasn't an easy surgery. … With some rest now and with the doctors and physios and everything, from now on I think we can set up a good plan and get the swelling back (down) and just have a normal knee again.'