Montreal Canadiens Sign David Reinbacher To Entry-Level Contract

The Montreal Canadiens selected David Reinbacher with the fifth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. They add him to an already impressive group of young prospects that were on full display at Canadiens development camp earlier this week.

Reinbacher was busy taking the ice with fellow recent Habs draft picks and acquisitions, but he also found the time to take care of some important business off the ice as well.

The 18 year old signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Canadiens. The Austrian native played in Switzerland’s top pro league last season and scored three goals and 22 points in 46 games. At 6’2 and 194 pounds, the right shooting defender promises to be a towering figure on the Canadiens blue line for years to come.

Whether that will be next season or not is still up in the air. The most likely scenario is that he will return to Switzerland and play one more season with Kloten in NLA to continue developing his two-way game. If that is the case, his contract would slide ahead a year and not start until the 2024-25 season and then have him locked in on this contract until the 2026-27 season concludes. He would need to play ten games in the NHL next season for the first year of his contract to take affect immediately.

There is also a European assignment clause in the first two years of the deal, meaning if Reinbacher does not make the Canadiens lineup he has the option of choosing a return to Switzerland rather than playing in the American Hockey League with the Laval Rocket.

The contract comes with a cap hit of $950,000 but also has performance bonuses. Reinbacher could earn an additional $1 million in year one and up to $1.5 million extra in year two.

Reinbacher will be back in Montreal in time for training camp and the team will make a final decision on where he plays in 2023-24 after he gets to play a few exhibition games with the team.

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