Scouting Report Of Canadiens Prospect David Reinbacher’s Potential

Now that the Montreal Canadiens have made their 5th overall selection it’s time to get familiar with the player that will play a big part in their rebuild.

David Reinbacher was the pre-draft consensus choice as the best defenceman available in Nashville, with independent scouting rankings placing him somewhere between 9th and 20th overall when we include every player available at the Draft.

Thanks to the fantastic work of Thibaud Chatel, who works for NL Ice Data, a company that focuses on tracking players manually, we have a better idea of what Reinbacher can bring to the table.

Chatel graciously allowed us to work off his in-depth report regarding Reinbacher’s potential. You can find the detailed scouting report in its entirety here.

NHL Probability

Reinbacher is ranked as one of the top prospects when it comes to his odds of playing in the NHL. According to Chatel, only first-overall pick Connor Bedard has better odds of becoming an elite player in the next decade.

We’ve heard a lot of comments regarding where Reinbacher will end up, with some suggesting he’s only a top-four defenceman. It’s true to a certain extent, Reinbacher does project as a top-four defenceman, however, in all likelihood that’s his floor, not his ceiling.

It’s also worth noting that Reinbacher’s ascension this season was remarkable. He went from a player with almost no odds of playing in the top four to a player with top-pairing potential in just two years.

Reinbacher was also Kloten’s busiest defenceman at even-strength, though he was tasked with shutting down opposing forwards rather than driving offence.

As for his puck-retrieval abilities, Chatel suggests it wasn’t a strength, but it wasn’t necessarily something that will hold him back.

“His puck battle and retrieval numbers might be low (39th percentile among defensemen),” said Chatel. “But at 18 years old it was more interesting to see what he was doing with the pucks he was recovering. In the defensive zone he was turning recoveries into controlled exits at a solid rate, and manufacturing shots in the offensive zone after a puck win at an even higher rate.”

Reinbacher’s transition numbers aren’t great, but Kloten did count on him to make the first pass out of the defensive zone to start the rush.

It’s always difficult to get a read on players developing in the NLA, but thanks to Chatel’s analysis, we can establish that Reinbacher’s win shares were similar to those put up by players like David Jiricek and Moritz Seider.

Again, I encourage you to take a look at Chatel’s complete report on the newest member of the Canadiens. I also suggest subscribing to his substack, especially if you’re interested in keeping tabs on Reinbacher this season.

Chatel’s report is fantastic work by someone who watched more footage of Reinbacher than almost anyone else in the industry, but the main takeaway from his analysis is that Reinbacher projects to be a very good defenceman, the type of defenceman Canadiens do not currently have in their system.