A year after opening a position in Montreal to his 2022 first pick, Juraj Slafkovsky, the Canadian sent his 2023 first pick, defenseman David Reinbacher, back to his Swiss club for the winter. Some will be tempted to make a cause and effect link as Slafkovsky struggled during the last season before suffering a serious injury, but that is not the case.
If it had to be done again, the CH would probably make the same decision in the case of Slafkovsky. We didn’t keep him in Montreal because of stellar performances in training camp or in the hope of improving the team which, in any case, didn’t have high aspirations.
But there were so many flaws in the game of this now 19-year-old winger that we preferred to keep him around the club to teach him to become a better hockey player. To use the words of coach Martin St-Louis: we wanted him to play better with the other four players on the ice.
And since Slafkovsky already had great physical maturity at 6 feet 3 inches and 238 pounds, we could afford to keep him around the team.
We feared losing a year of development by sending him to TPS Turku in Finland, where the Canadian’s management would not have had control over his time of use and with the fear that his shortcomings in terms of understanding the game are not corrected. He might have come back more confident, but he would have had to start from square one in terms of lessons.
A year later, we noted the improvement during the preparatory matches. Slafkovsky, the first overall pick last summer ahead of Simon Nemec, Logan Cooley and Shane Wright, keeps his head higher in possession of the puck. He finds open spaces better and positions himself to receive more pucks. He not only scored, but had several great chances to score. He should start the season as part of an attacking trio with Kirby Dach and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard.
Reinbacher, 18, the fifth overall pick in 2023 behind Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli and Will Smith, is a different player. Even if he occupies a more sensitive position, in defense, his game is more complete. There is no major work to be undertaken in his case. His positioning is adequate in most situations, he uses his stick effectively to defend his territory, he makes the right decisions with the puck and displays surprising confidence for a youngster of his age. His last preseason game, Saturday, was probably his best.
As he made giant strides last year with the formation of Kloten, in the Swiss National League, and that he was given a position there within the first pair of defensemen and the main wave on the power play , we send it back almost with our eyes closed without fear that its development will stagnate.
Spending the winter in Switzerland, where the schedule is less demanding and travel shorter, could also allow Reinbacher to gain physical maturity. At 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds, there’s still room for a few more pounds of muscle.
If there is one aspect that we learned from the Slafkovsky experience, however, it is the pressure of the media, fans and social networks on a young player in a market like Montreal. Reinbacher will continue its development away from the limelight.
Reinbacher will be able to join the Canadian possibly, at the end of his season in Switzerland, where the regular season ends at the beginning of March, the quarter-finals on the 14th of the same month and the semi-finals on the 30th.
The Canadiens’ season ends on April 16. Only Kloten’s participation in the final of his championship would prevent Reinbacher from playing matches in Montreal. But there could also be the Laval Rocket, if the farm club participates in the playoffs.
It’s not far-fetched to imagine two defensive hopefuls, Reinbacher and Lane Hutson, rubbing shoulders in the CH locker room in April…
And Logan Mailloux in all this?
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Logan Mailloux
The first pick of 2021, 31e In total, defender Logan Mailloux, 20, has so far resisted the significant waves of cuts during training camp.
Mailloux, it must be admitted, is progressing well since his first match at the rookie tournament. He still makes mistakes, less because of his audacity than bad decisions, but his game is stronger overall.
His case is more similar to that of Juraj Slafkovsky than to that of David Reinbacher. He has exceptional physical attributes at 6 feet 3 inches and 220 pounds, great offensive skills, solid skating for a player of his size and robustness when needed.
But there are still many flaws to correct in his game and his inactivity in recent years, due to the pandemic (the Ontario Junior League ceased activities for a year) and his suspension, has not helped.
The speed with which he absorbs the lessons received and applies them will be the key in his case. He’s showing good progress so far.
There are still ten defensemen left in camp: Mike Matheson, David Savard, Kaiden Guhle, Johnathan Kovacevic, Jordan Harris, Arber Xhekaj, Justin Barron, Gustav Lindström, Mattias Norlinder and him. There are three defenders too many, maybe even four if we keep three goalkeepers. Harris, Xhekaj, Barron, Norlinder and Mailloux do not have to be subject to waivers if sent back to the American League.