The injury that should concern Canadiens fans the most

The Patrik Laine knee injury on Saturday night has taken up most of the Montreal Canadiens' fanbase energy. However, the one they should worry about more happened a few minutes before. David Reinbacher had a harmless-looking play turn into an early absence, just two minutes into the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Reinbacher limped down the tunnel and exited the arena on a matching set of crutches and knee brace with Laine.

Reinbacher has had numerous injuries to his knees over the past few years, which has hurt his skating ability to the naked eye. Part of Reinbacher's charm was how he could move while also looking like a massive human being on skates. However, his speed and footwork have been looking average at best against NHL competition this preseason.

The piling up of knee injuries is concerning enough, but the reason he has already been in North America so long is that last season in Kloten was disastrous. The Canadiens thought the best course of action for his development would be spending some time in Europe. Kloten proved to be a big mistake, which led Reinbacher to sign in the AHL and play the rest of the season in Laval. They did their best to savor any form of development, but realistically 2023-24 was a lost season for the former fifth-overall pick.

It'll be another lost season for Reinbacher if he is out of the lineup for an extended period. The past few seasons have been prime time to turn him into a premier right-shot defenseman for the NHL level, but it has been a disaster to this point. Everyone will be holding their breaths awaiting Laine's test results on Monday morning, but the real worry for Habs fans should be the timeline to return for Reinbacher.