Important Dates For Canadiens Prospect Reinbacher’s Arrival

With the playoffs out of reach, Montreal Canadiens fans have turned their attention toward the future of the franchise.

One of the players slated to play a big role in the team’s quest to become a Stanley Cup-contending team is top prospect David Reinbacher. His situation in the National League (NL) is far from ideal, though we should be careful when we discuss the strength of the league.

Yes, EHC Kloten is a mess. They’ve tried three different coaches this season and the results have hardly improved. But the NL, as a whole, is a much better league than we once assumed. On that note, there’s still merit to the idea of bringing Reinbacher over as soon as possible so he can acclimatize to North American hockey.

Earlier this month we established three different scenarios that would impact Reinbacher’s arrival.

The first scenario involved Kloten avoiding a playout entirely by moving out of the basement of the standings. In this scenario, Reinbacher would be available on March 5.

Unfortunately, Kloten has lost every game since we discussed the possibility, which means the scenario is no longer possible.

But, there is still a possibility Reinbacher can avoid the playout series entirely. More on that later.

Playout Situation(s)

We’ll provide a quick refresher for those who have not yet taken a look at Reinbacher’s situation in Switzerland.

Kloten will face Ajoie in the NL playout.

The NL playout is a seven-game series between the two lowest-ranking teams in the NL standings. It is slated to begin on March 16.

If Kloten wins, Reinbacher will be available to the Canadiens toward the end of March, depending on how long the first playout series lasts.

We should note that between the two, Ajoie is the team that has found more success in recent weeks, meaning they’ll head into the playout with a little more momentum than Kloten, who has not won a game since January 30. For the record, Kloten has scored just two goals since they last won a game.

If Kloten loses the series, they will have to face the Swiss League (SL) champions in the second playout. There are no affiliations in Swiss hockey as there are in the NHL, but for clarity, think of the SL as their version of the AHL.

Having to play another seven-game series would mean that Reinbacher wouldn’t be available until about mid-April, again, depending on how many games the series lasts.

This means he’d be eligible to play a handful of games, at most, for the Laval Rocket, whose regular season is over on April 20.

Important SL Series Impacting The Montreal Canadiens Prospect’s Arrival

There’s still a chance that Reinbacher can arrive a little earlier than expected, but this time around it does not hinge on any semblance of success from Kloten, thankfully.

As we previously established, only two SL teams have been deemed acceptable champions this season. Visp and Olten are the only two clubs that have the proper financial backing, arena, and other aspects that would allow them to be promoted to the NL.

And here’s where things get interesting.

We now know the exact dates of the semifinal playoff series in the SL.

Both Visp and Olten are still active in the SL playoffs, but the semifinals are slated to end on March 15 at the latest, a day before the first playout between Kloten and Ajoie is scheduled.

In other words, if both Visp and Olten are eliminated in the SL semifinals, not only will there not be a need for a second playout series to determine which team will be promoted and relegated, but it would also lead to the cancellation of the NL playout.

This would mean that Reinbacher’s commitment to Kloten would effectively be over and the Montreal Canadiens prospect would be free to cross the pond on March 15 or March 16.

A stick tap goes out to Thibaud Chatel for providing the exact dates of the series taking place in Switzerland.

Click here to monitor Visp and Olten’s progress in the NL playoffs.