During the last training camp, David Reinbacher was injured. As a result, for the second year in a row he cannot start the season at the same time as everyone else.
The injury was said to be much less severe this year than last year, but was nonetheless frustrating.
On October 31, the Austrian finally played his first game of the season, finishing with a minus-2 margin. He then earned his first two points of the season in the next two games.
But in Reinbacher's case, the focus is primarily on his defensive play. And over the last four games as Grant McCagg notesit was very, very encouraging.
In fact, during this period of time he was on the ice for only one opponent's goal, spending 78:23 on the ice.
Considering how much time he missed early in the season, it's encouraging to see him return to action so quickly (at least defensively). Of course, it's still a very small sample, but it's nice to see him playing big hockey like that.
And above all, it's nice to see him playing one game after another without any health problems. Even if, I repeat, the sample is small.
The question is, can this eventually earn him a call-up to a big club? Seeing him play big minutes down low good for his development right now… but sooner or later the Habs will likely find themselves in a situation where calling up Reinbacher is a question.
You might think Adam Engstrom is ahead of him in the pecking order (and rightly so)… but if Noah Dobson or Alexandre Carrier had to leave, the club could use a right-handed player like Reinbacher, you know.
However, one thing is clear: Reinbacher's recent performance should encourage the Habs. While the club is struggling with a lot of injuries uphe can at least take solace in the fact that his top prospect on the blue line is finally healthy and playing big hockey.
Not a bad consolation prize.
After a while
– Enjoy listening.
– Devil's Injuries: Newark mummies to blame?[NJ.com]
– What do you think?
