BROSSARD, Que.— It was a tumultuous year for David Reinbacher, his first one under the scorching spotlight that comes with being a high-profile Montreal Canadiens prospect, and what he took from it are things that can only serve him well moving forward.
The most critical lesson learned over the months that followed his selection at fifth overall in the 2023 NHL Draft is the one that will guide his immediate—and long-term—future.
“Don’t change for any person,” Reinbacher said following his first day on the ice at his second rookie camp with the team. “You’re here for a reason, they picked you for a reason. Just gotta bring my work and do my job and show them what I can do, and that’s all.”
Nothing more, nothing less.
It’s almost antithetical to this whole process, in a sense. Every player comes to rookie camp angling to make it to the main one. They have limited runway to take off, just days to show off what separates them from the pack, and the temptation to step outside themselves is nearly impossible to ignore.
But Reinbacher’s best opportunity to stand out here is to ignore that temptation, and he knows it.
It wasn’t the type of knowledge he went out seeking after first pulling on a Canadiens sweater a little over a year ago, back on a hot June day in Nashville. He wasn’t expecting the immediate backlash that came from a pocket of the fanbase—people flocking to Instagram with pitchforks and torches to vent their frustrations about the Canadiens passing over the rainbow-flavoured hockey Matvei Michkov might’ve provided instead of the vanilla brand Reinbacher would be offering—nor was he inviting it.
But that’s what Reinbacher got, and it’s hard not to think he’s better off for it now.
Perhaps the big Austrian would’ve traded his up-and-down season with Kloten HC for a banner one that saw him torch the Swiss-A League with highlight-reel plays. But without it he’d likely still be attempting to fulfill others’ expectations of the player he should be rather than his own, and that wouldn’t be helping him at this moment.
The Canadiens drafted Reinbacher to be stable and stalwart. They drafted him because he processed the game in a way so few defencemen have historically been capable of processing it as teenagers. They saw his strong, confident and calm nature as a determining factor in his future success with their organization, and they bet on it.
It was all tested once Reinbacher returned to Europe last fall, following a strong showing at Canadiens training camp.
He stumbled to start in Kloten, and the hockey team fumbled—inevitably plummeting to the bottom of the standings, leaving coaches and managers out of jobs and players frustrated.
But Reinbacher found his footing as the season wore on, even if the team didn’t. He stepped back into himself after trying so hard to be something he wasn’t, and he finished the season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket an improved player.
Reinbacher is a wiser player today, too, and it shows both on and off the ice.
On Thursday, Reinbacher’s pace and fluidity was apparent from the start of the first drill to the end of the last one. He appeared strong and confident and played within himself and, in the process, served up examples of what he later affirmed will be the recipe that brings him to the NHL sooner than later.
Reinbacher knows that if he makes the Canadiens out of main camp it won’t be because he exhibits the flair Lane Hutson or Logan Mailloux plays with. He knows his best chance of beating either player in the competition is remaining true to his brand.
“Everybody knows what my ace is,” he said. “Try to bring that every day now.”
That’s the right approach.
Pivotal year for Heineman
When the email from the Canadiens came in six days ago, it featured a name I wasn’t expecting to see.
But there was Emil Heineman in bold, with his birthdate beside his name, highlighting that he was the third-oldest participant of the 23 invited to Canadiens rookie camp.
Technically a rookie—no doubt—only a year into his North American pro career and with just four games of NHL experience under his belt. But this is the kid who lined up with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield to start last year’s training camp and I’d have thought skipping this step might be in order for him.
Maybe that’s the point—that there’s no skipping steps in this process, even if you’re two months from your 23rd birthday and in possession of a well-rounded NHL profile.
Not that Heineman, who was picked 43rd overall by the Florida Panthers in 2020, was looking to concede there was some sort of message being sent to him.
On having to participate in rookie camp, the six-foot, 202-pound Swede said, “I feel like this is a perfect start-up for the camp—get a few games here, getting to the tempo, the timing,” and added, “Playing in the Bell Centre (for two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs rookies this weekend) is not bad.”
When Heineman was asked if he was approaching this year with urgency to break through, he downplayed the make-or-break nature of his situation, saying, “It’s more like every season you want to get better.”
But I don’t think this player is under any illusions about the opportunity in front of him.
Heineman was placed where he was at the start of last training camp because he has legitimate NHL potential to not only fill a place with the Canadiens but also an important role, and surely he knows chances to prove it likely only become scarcer from this point forward. He’s stepping into a tougher competition than the one entered at this time last year and the tools he has it his disposal to show he’s ready for it have to shine more now than they did then.
There’s no question Heineman has them.
“He’s strong, he’s a really good skater,” said Reinbacher. “He has a good shot, like a really good shot. He’s fast, he’s strong on the ice, he has good edges, so it’s not easy to play against him.”
Hutson added, “He’s so elusive. Slippery player, but he’s also really good at protecting the puck and making plays in tight areas.”
I see a player who can really do some damage on the forecheck, a player who can complement the skilled ones in the Canadiens’ top nine, and a player with more finishing ability than the 15 goals he scored in 48 games with Laval last season suggested.
Heineman hopes the work he put in over the summer to become more explosive—“to get faster, more agile out there,” as he put it—pays off and allows him to show it.
It might not lead to a spot on the roster out of main camp, but it will reinforce the confidence the Canadiens had at one point that Heineman is an NHLer—and could be a good one.
That’s why they traded for him when they moved Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames in February of 2022.
Mailloux, who played alongside Heineman in Laval last season, believes the player will prove the Canadiens made a good bet.
“You look at how he shoots the puck and how he skates, he’s got the whole toolbox,” Mailloux said.
“There aren’t too many parts of the game he’s missing. He’s big, strong, he shoots well. He can really shoot it, so I think he can produce at this level and be a physical force.”
Heineman is being tested to show that right now, a week earlier than expected.
Odds and ends
-Even on a day where the players are just running drills, Hutson stands out. Just as he did throughout his short NCAA career and during the two NHL games he played last season.
There was naturally a lot of focus on the offence-driving plays he made against a Detroit Red Wings team that was life-and-death to make the playoffs, but the ones that really stood out to me were on the other side of the puck.
Everyone knows Hutson has NHL-ready offence to contribute, but he showed over a very limited—but highly relevant—sample that his way of defending can work at this level.
“I felt quick on pucks,” Hutson said. “I felt like I can close plays quickly and, obviously, if there’s not a guy I can impose physically, I push him into a tough area and try to take the puck off him.”
It’s called angling, and it’s an unheralded skill in Hutson’s arsenal.
He agrees.
“Definitely (see that as a strength),” Hutson said. “Being able to ride guys out and turn pucks up is something I’ve been working on, and something I’m going to continue to work on as well.”
-Funny moment when Adam Engstrom walked onto the field adjacent the ice rinks at the Canadiens’ practice facility and saw a hoard of media members interviewing Owen Beck. The look on his face revealed he had no idea what he was stepping into.
Engstrom comes here relatively anonymous next to Reinbacher, Hutson, Mailloux, Beck, Heineman, and some other players who appear to have NHL futures, but he seems intent on changing that.
The 20-year-old Swedish defenceman, who was a third-round pick of the Canadiens in 2022, has the game that will help him do it.
“I learned he was an elite skater with great hockey sense,” said Hutson, who formed his first impressions of Engstrom at Canadiens development camp earlier this summer.
“Good, two-way, smart defenceman that kills plays and competes hard,” Hutson continued. “He’s a quiet guy, but once you get him to talk a bit he’s pretty funny.”
I was also told Engstrom’s apparently an incredible golfer, too.
He confirmed, saying he shot a career-best five-under par at a local golf course outside of Montreal a couple of weeks ago.
Take it for what it’s worth, but I think that says a lot on how mentally strong Engstrom probably is. Shooting a score like that takes much more than a good swing and a steady putting stroke.