David Reinbacher is one of the more intriguing wild cards heading into next month’s training camp. While rookie camp is still a couple of weeks away, he has a chance to make a strong impression before that.
The 19-year-old is one of two Montreal prospects representing Austria at the upcoming Olympic Qualification Tournament which gets underway on Thursday. Vincenz Rohrer is the other; he’ll likely have a limited role as he did at the Worlds in May. Since he isn’t attending training camp with the Habs, while his performance will also be worth following, there’s no shot at bolstering his chances of making a good impression heading into camp like Reinbacher.
Based on the exhibition games Austria played in recent days, Reinbacher isn’t likely to have a big role. All things considered, a regular turn on the third pairing with a bit of penalty killing time is about all he’s likely to perform. While that might not sound like much, he’s a teenager playing in a men’s tournament; he’ll be one of the youngest players there. Despite his NHL draft status, they’re not throwing him to the wolves in what’s basically a professional environment.
Deep down, I’m sure the Habs would prefer that Reinbacher plays a bigger role, I actually think this will work in his favour. With two departures on the back end from the Canadiens this summer (Johnathan Kovacevic and Jordan Harris), there is a chance for at least one rookie to come in and push for a roster spot. Reinbacher will be among those players.
That said, at age 19 and given the fact that defencemen often have a much steeper development curve, what type of role would Reinbacher likely get if he was to crack Montreal’s roster? I can’t see them throwing heavy minutes at him; the optimal role might very well be playing on the third pairing with some penalty killing time. In essence, the role he’ll have playing for Austria.
What better way to make a good impression than by showing that he can play well in a meaningful event (including against a few NHL players) in the role that he’d have with Montreal? By no means is this a make-or-break situation but if Reinbacher can show the Habs that he can have success in that role, it can only help his cause heading into rookie camp and the preseason.
Worth remembering is that Reinbacher is subject to the nine-game threshold. Once he passes that with the Habs, he officially burns the first year of his contract. If he doesn’t play that many, the contract slides and would still have three years left on it next season at a slightly lower cap hit. If Montreal is dead-set against him burning that first year, then this tournament won’t mean a whole lot but I don’t see them being that against burning a year so there’s a chance for Reinbacher to help his cause over the next few days.
Austria is in a group with Slovakia, Hungary, and Kazakhstan. Each team has played in a top-level Worlds since 2020; this group is the only of the three where that can be said for all four countries. Each team plays each other once with the winner of the group advancing to the 2026 Olympics. The schedule (with streaming options) can be found here.
