The Montreal Canadiens made their choice at 5th overall, selecting defenceman David Reinbacher from the Swiss league. The immediate reaction was mixed to be kind, with many hoping the team would select Matvei Michkov instead. Scott makes the case for why the Canadiens opted for the Austrian defender, and why he may very well be their cornerstone blue liner in the future. Laura remains less convinced, and has her own thoughts to share.
The duo also debates whether or not the team has played it too safe under Kent Hughes at the NHL Draft. Scott very much does not think so, as he goes over the previous Draft class in 2022 and why that narrative feels unwarranted. Laura also outlines what she would want from the Habs in order to get her back on board with this year’s draft week strategy so far.
Finally, the hosts discuss the rest of the first round, and what surprises might be in store for the second day of the NHL Draft.
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41 Comments
Two bad moves in a row, fire Hughes and Bobrov.
Thanks Marc Hughes.
Chicago did better in the first round than Montreal did in the last two drafts put together 🤷🏻♂️🤦♂️😢
Don't stick up for the Canadiens, they blew it.
I love Reinbacher and the pick is still a fail😂
Zac Benson is this year's Cole Caufield. Many teams will regret passing on him.
I like the argument "He can play lots of minutes", it's the new "Good without the puck"
Large players win in the playoffs. The forward group is already too small. Ryan L is less than 6", Benson is a midget and sexy picks mostly fail. BTW Big defence wins in playoffs, look are the last several Playoff winners.
Good overall analysis guys. We need to chill and wait 3-5 years to see the winners/losers of this draft.
Unfortunately the Honeymoon is now over, you absolutely right Laura fans now will be extremely impatient, we needed Elite players not nice Chris Phillips type players. History shows it. Not many people would have given them criticism if Michkov doesn’t work, the criticism will be through the roof if this pick is not a top pair d. Every pick they have they the talk hockey IQ…. Not one draft analysis mentioned his hockey IQ. They say pair him with Hudson, you need a mean SOB to pair with Hudson.
The only way Hughes saves this off-season is to get rid of Hoffman, and Armia. So we can see the young players play
hughes will be fired in three years..
#mailbagquestion How do you feel about the amount of truly elite talent this team has? I feel like Suzuki and Caufield are just a little bit bellow that elite level. It’s clear we will have an amazing defence core going forward but I think that is at the cost of having a true elite game breaker. Seems to me like we will be watching a lot of 2-1 loses.
The Habs have an impressive development team for dmen – I still trust the management
Quite a big young defensive core they have building up!
Kaiden Guhle
Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj
Logan Mailloux
Justin Barron
David Reinbacher
I don’t think Hughes is done making moves, he has a lot of assets to use in trades to bring in some more offensive, who knows what he’s got to his sleeve, plus on top of that they have a great prospect pool of young offensive talent that could crack the lineup this year, should be an interesting summer.
Trust in the scouts and management, there’s a reason they’re in the NHL and we’re sitting online talking about them.
Montreal as in 2018 with KK went for needs instead of taking the best player available which could have been Michkov, Leonard, Benson or even Dvorsky. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
Nothing against the player … but feel sick to my stomach.. just another Habs draft that goes wrong
Feels like we're setting up another Drouin trade based on the logic that Habs have depth in D but are weak at forward
I'm old so Chelios for Savard?
Management thinks Reinbacher has an higher ceiling, they see a guy with a great progression that they expect to progress into a top 2 D and perhaps an elite top D.
Well…. I would have preferred Michkov like most of us. The GM/coach are still new, and they have made some good choices before (e.g., Dach trade, maybe Newhook). More deals likely to come. I am also pretty "whelmed", but I wish the kid best of luck!
Was displeased with the pick last night, but I'm more okay with Reinbacher now that I slept on it. I still would have preferred a more exciting player, but if what he becomes is a very good second pairing D then I'm okay with it. Also, good RHD are in high demand in the league, he could become a very desirable trade asset down the road.
Start with Hughes is history. First A good, probably fair D who is not a phyisical D, over a great , potentially 100 point star. And we also trade two big picks, should have been used for future really good players Nadeau and But for a fair, at best, center another team did not want. Hughes clueless, he's gone, hopefully soon. This D is not going to be better than Mathewson, Guhle, Hutson or Malioux.
People are such babies on the internet. The Habs now build a foundation on the backend. Are Future on LHD has Guhle, Hutson, Matheson/ Harris/Xhekaj and on RHD we have Mailloux, Reinbacher and Barron. Thats how you build a team. There's a reason why the Oilers haven't won a cup. Theyre weak on D especially on the Right side. Some of the D could be traded for a forward if theres no room. That's how much depth they have.
Worst pick in Franchise History.
Reinbacher has to end up being a ELITE TOP PAIR D MAN otherwise we will all regret this draft for years…. 🙉😬😬
Don't like the pick, go cheer for the Leafs.
Orville Redenbacher!
Habs drafted on needs again, big mistake again, remember KK, Orville Reinbacher will be good, but never a top 5 pick, and we have had failed rebuilds since 1994, 30 fricking years.
We don't know, we are not scouts. He seems to have risen in the ranks quite a bit. Not a sexy pick but it does fill a need.
It's only two years in the rebuild for crying out loud.
I am not as upset with pick but wish we kept 2nd pick because didn't need 2nd and 3rd for someone like Newhook. Avs did well with this trade and then trading one of the picks for comparable forward
He's a stay at home defensive D that is right handed and is the most valuable player "to us" hand's down …able to join the team sooner rather than later 🤔 GO HABS GO 💕💕💕💕
RIGHT HANDED D
I have nothing against Reinbacher. He'll probably be a good Dman with the habs. I just feel sorry for the kid, he didn't decide to be chosen at 5. The habs fanbase is not very forgiving and even if he is a decent Dman, I feel that for the next decade the fanbase will consider him like the guy that was picked over Michkov instead of being his own thing. Let's hope he breaks free of this image or else the pressure on his shoulders will be unbearable.
Calling him a “perfectly serviceable defenceman” is basically saying he’s a bottom paring guy who will play 10-12 minutes a game. This kid was chosen because they see him as 20+ minute defender which much more than merely being “serviceable”. Did you even watch the playoffs this year? The cup was won by a team with a stacked defence of and no superstars up front.
Trust the plan
I don’t like the pic today, but I have a feeling I’ll like it in 2 years time! In two years time I think the habs will have one of the best d core in the league.
I don't get why Habs fans are upset with this pick.
1. It should be crystal to every hockey fan that a top pairing right shot d-Man has way more value than any other winger. Period.
If you have the choice between Benson/Leonard and Reinbacher you surely go with the D-Man.
2. Habs fans haven't still gotten what a great player Reinbacher is. The GM of EHC Kloten Larry Mitchell said about Reinbacher:
"He's the real deal".
won rookie of the year + most improved player in the entire league! + ranked 3rd amongst best d-Man in the entire league. This is a pretty good league. For me the league in Switzerland is a top5 league in Europe, better than the German DEL and the League in Czechia.
3. He played 20 minutes a night on the top pairing. Headcoach Jeff Tomlinson said about Reinbacher "He's our best option". If the team is trailing by one or has a one goal lead late in the game Jeff sends Reinbacher on the ice to defend the lead.
4. Imagine Reinbacher becomes a Roman Josi at the NHL level. Look at Roman Josi's numbers in his prime. The numbers are outstanding. Sure, it takes a while to become the same type of player, but I wouldn't rule it out.
Benson is going to have a hard time even becoming an NHL regular, because of his frame and the supbar skating, his shot isn't good either. The NHL is a completely different animal than the WHL. Leonard will be a winger on the big stage. I doubt that he puts up more than 70 points a season. Michkov is a wildcard with his contract situation and the russian factor. Not sure if he has the determination and the work ethic to make it in the NHL.
Have the Canadiens laid a dud, once again, That is all for the Canadiens this year. Get rid of all old players, I am underwhelmed.
I was beyond sad yesterday. Starting to be able to take a step back and be less upset be it sure does feel like a big let down compared with the hopes and dreams many of us had
Habs fans that hate on this pick are disgusting. You don’t know what talent is until it slaps you in the face. Caufield, Suzuki are gonna be ppg players EASY. Dach, Newhook, and Slaf have HIGH ceilings. Drafting a literal Star defenceman at 5 is not a bad thing at all. I am DONE with this fanbase and the vitriol it spews.
Better than Seider at the same age according to Elite Prospects. So lets wait and see what he becomes in a few years. I was upset last night, but i gotta say I kinda like the idea of a big right winger to play alongside Hutson in the future
I was disappointed by the pick. I got over it after 15 seconds. We live in a world where we drafted Reinbacher, nothing we do or say will change that so might as well just hope it's one of the universes in which Reinbacher develops in our version of Pietrangelo, Josi or Seabrook. Let's give him the opportunity to really develop with support from an NHL organization. If I was ready to wait 3 years for Michkov, why not wait 2 years for Reinbacher?
I think he's playing one more year in Switzerland and I'd like to see him learn the ropes of N/A hockey in the AHL a bit like Seider did. He could potentially be a rookie same time as Hutson.
All the habs look like after a really bad hangover 😀 . Guys give him a chance he is piece in the puzzle