Canadiens: Reinbacher’s EHC Kloten Fire Head Coach

Montreal Canadiens prospect and 2023 fifth overall pick David Reinbacher has had an interesting and frustrating start to his season. Playing his hockey with EHC Kloten of the National League in Switzerland, the Habs prospect has played in just seven of his team’s 23 games this season, missing significant time with a knee injury. And now, his head coach has been given the boot.

EHC Kloten is just 5-14-2-2 (W-L-OTW-OTL) so far this season, which has them sitting in second to last place. Clearly, things have been messy there, prompting them to fire head coach Gerry Fleming, who had only just taken over for EHC Kloten this season. It’s not exactly the environment you want your prized top-five pick playing in, is it?

But perhaps this will be good for Reinbacher, who has not put up the box scores he did last season with just two points in seven games this year after scoring 22 points in 46 games last season. A new coach could help stabilize things and get back on track, allowing both the team and Reinbacher specifically, to turn up their level of play.

Reinbacher hasn’t been terrible this season, to be clear, but he’s had a few hiccups and hasn’t shown as many flashes as you would hope in, albeit a small sample size. He’s still a solid defender with areas to improve, which we already knew coming into the year. But the injury did not help his development; now, this is another hiccup. Had the Canadiens known this would’ve happened, I’d wager they would’ve opted to keep him in North America.

However, they believed Europe was the best place for Reinbacher and his development. And that may still be true. You can only hope that EHC Kloten’s new coach sees Reinabcher’s value and plays him in a prominent role for the team. That’s what the Habs want: lots of ice-time playing in all situations.

I’m sure Canadiens fans and management alike will be watching closely to see how things will fare for Reinbacher moving forward. Everyone wants him to succeed, so any hitches in his development are going to raise some eyebrows. Hopefully, this is just a small bump in the road in what is an otherwise smooth journey to NHL stardom for Reinbacher.

And hey, a little adversity early on in your career isn’t the worst thing in the world. Reinbacher has a good head on his shoulders; he should be able to handle this in stride. But only time will tell for sure.

Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!

Write for us!