The Montreal Canadiens are selecting 5th overall in the 2024 NHL draft, and not matter who they pick, the future is more than likely very bright. Generally, the 5th overall pick turns out to be a quality NHL player, and Habs fans are hoping David Reinbacher and this year's pick will continue that trend.
And we have finally reached the man in question, the big defender from Austria, David Reinbacher. Reinbacher was drafted by the last Montreal Canadiens 5th overall pick, kind of.
Rock steady Carey Price was seemingly tongue-tied when announcing the pick, and needed General Manager Kent Hughes to come in with the assist and actually announce the pick. As far as I know, no one really knows why this happened.
Did the Canadiens expect to draft a different player and have to make a quick detour, Like expecting Will Smith to fall past the San Jose Sharks, but having to pivot at the last minute. Or did Price not agree with the pick?
One thing I can say is that it didn't turn out to be what I thought it would be, watching it live. I was so wrapped up and enamoured with the idea of Matvei Michkov that I thought Price was starting with a different name, only to pivot to someone else.
Either way, David Reinbacher is a Montreal Canadien, and will be a mainstay on the blueline for many years to come. He is a big bodied, smooth and even-headed defender. He is a practically guaranteed second pairing defender, and if he can add more offence to his game, that can go up to first pairing.
And, as we have been looking back these past couple of articles, the future is bright, if the trend of Montreal Canadiens defenders taken at 5th overall keeps up.
Of the groups of players taken by the Habs at 5th overalll, the defenders were clearly the best. Cam Connor was the only forward, and played just one season with the Canadiens, and 89 NHL games overall. He had a solid WHA career, but that doesn't help an NHL draft pick.
Carey Price is far and away the best player the Canadiens have ever picked at 5th overall (as of yet), but the other goalies did not have the most illustrious careers in the Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge. Ray Martynuik never played an NHL game, and Phil Myre had a good career, but most of it not with the Habs.
But the two defenders taken at 5th overall both had a big impact on the team. Pierre Bouchard was drafted for nepotism, as his father was former Canadiens captain and legend Emile "Butch" Bouchard. Pierre was a great defender in his own right for Montreal, backing the team during their dynasty in the 1970s.
Petr Svoboda had the best career from a Czech player at that point of time, and played with the Habs for eight years, and produced for over 1,000 NHL games, never putting out amazing offensive numbers, but producing well defensively.
It is really easy to see David Reinbacher becoming a Petr Svoboda-type player, at the very least. Svoboda played over 1,000 games in the NHL, and barring serious injury I would be surprised if Reinbacher didn't reach that point.
Now Reinbacher is still very young and defenders are notorious for their slower development, but Reinbacher already impressed in a small sample size in the AHL with the Laval Rocket.
If Reinbacher continues to develop, and gains different dimensions to his game, in the years to come, we might be talking about him like we do with the other Montreal Canadiens greats.