The preseason is over, and the Montreal Canadiens are dealing with some more injuries. Last year, it was Laine going down with a serious injury, and this year it looks like David Reinbacher drew the short straw.
Last year, Reinbacher missed most of the season with a knee injury suffered in the preseason. This year, Reinbacher blocked a shot against the Toronto Maple Leafs and broke his hand. Luckily, this will only be a month's setback, much less than last year.
But this has opened up the conversation about David Reinbacher being injury-prone. It's a lot of time to lose, especially because this is so early in his career. He is just 20 years old, and these formative years are very important for a young defender to hone his game.
Another young player who has gotten the label of injury-prone is Kirby Dach. Dach is a bit older at 24 years old and has a few seasons under his belt in the NHL. And he doesn't have a full 82-game season under his belt, the most being 70 games in 2021-22.
But the big one is 2023-24, and that hit.
It isn't the hardest hit in the world, but it was awkward, and Dach rode along the boards and ended up tearing his ACL and MCL, ending his season after just two games. Both are in the knee, and both are serious on their own and together, they are incredibly serious.
The next season, Dach didn't look right, and missed another big chunk of time due to another injury, this one to, would you look at that, the same knee as 2023.
So what we have here are two different players who have two different injuries over a similar span of time. But there is one that could wear the mantle of injury-prone a bit more than the other.
In Reinbacher's breaking his hand during pre-season play, that is a freak accident. It happened while blocking a shot, and Reinbacher hasn't had that type of injury before. That type of injury could happen to anyone in that exact situation or could happen at any time. Any time any player steps on the ice is a chance for an injury to happen.
Kirby Dach, on the other hand, had another major injury to the same area that he had injured before. That isn't a freak accident that could happen to anyone; it's something that likely happened because of his previous injury.
And even before the second injury, Dach didn't look the same, especially early in the year. A knee injury is fundamental. It can change the way you skate. It can affect the amount of power and speed that you can produce in your stride. While a broken hand is definitely a serious injury, it doesn't have the fundamental impacts that a serious knee injury could have.
I'm not as worried about Reinbacher due to this hand injury. It shouldn't change too much about the fundamentals of his game, and it isn't a high risk to re-injure. The biggest issue is the lost development time, which is not great. But the biggest strength in Reinbacher's game is his mental acumen in his own zone. I think he will continue to develop well.
Kirby Dach, on the other hand, is a different story. It is very tough because the vision is there. If Dach can become what Dach has the possibility to become and stay healthy, he can be a key piece of this team going forward. The only question is, can he?
The knee is such a focal point for skating, and any injury to it can really affect a player in all sorts of ways. And since there is so much pressure and movement in that area, it is a prime culprit for re-injury, as we have already seen with Dach.
In a small sample size, Dach does look good so far in the pre-season, so there is hope. But not every injury is equal, and not every "injury-prone" player is the same.