Why Montreal Needs Reinbacher on the Right Side!

Why Montreal Needs Reinbacher on the Right Side!

In yesterday’s episode kind of touched on Mason McTavish and why I didn’t think the Canadians should trade David Rybacher for him. So today I’m going to talk about why the Montreal Canadians should actually take a hard look at David Rybacher for that third right side defense position and why I think he’s not made a glass and he’s not injuryprone. It’s time for some puck talk Montreal. Hey again, Costa here once again. Thanking you as always for your support. Make sure you give us that thumbs up and like the videos and feel free to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you can get the latest and greatest as we add more to the channel in the days that come. But let’s talk about the matter at hand. That’s David Reinbacher. I kind of love this kid. I like his progression. I like what he looked like when he played in Switzerland and I really, really, really want to see him make the Montreal Canadians out of camp this year. Now, granted, he’s only played about 22 games in the American Hockey League plus playoffs where he looked extremely good. So, you know, we really didn’t get a great sample size last year because obviously he got injured against the Leafs. And we’ll take a look at that right here as you see that knee injury getting bumped there. And take a look. His right leg gives. And then it looks like his left leg gives as he falls down. So, I don’t really know what to tell you. Is it left? Is it right? I don’t think it really matters. Most people think it’s his left knee, and that’s the one he got surgery on. But here’s the thing. There’s a lot of talk about his issues with his knees growing up. And now, we’ve all been there, right? We’ve all been teenagers. We’ve all gone through growing pains and that’s essentially what um David Ryan Bacher went through. It’s called Osgood Schlatter disease. And Ozgood schlaughter disease is basically it affects kids that are still growing and it’s really common. It affects kids that are between the ages of 9 and 16 years old. Now, it’s really common. In fact, it’s the most common cause of knee pain in kids and teens. Now I’ve got that graphic on the left so that I can explain what happens as best to the best of my ability just to educate everybody just a little bit. Now the disease happens when kids overuse their patella tendon and when that that happens when their femur and tibia don’t grow in um in synchronized fashion. And basically what happens is that the tendon gets stretched out and in the area you see on this screen that’s called the tibial tubercal for lack of a better way to pronounce it is actually what we call a uh growth spot. And so what happens is the patella tendon kind of pulls and it creates sort of that information in that tubercal and that tubercal is actually covering that growth plate. So in essence what happens is activities like running, jumping, climbing and skating or training for any kind of sport causes it to inflame. It causes extra stress and the overuse causes swelling and irritation. So by and large osgood schlaughter isn’t really a disease. It’s basically just excessive growing pains because of a lack of symmetry as far as the growth in your leg is concerned. Your tibia and your femur are supposed to grow at the same time because they both have their own growth plates. And when they don’t, that’s when the extra tension comes on the patella tendon. So for a lot of people out there that are saying, “Oh, he had this disease. It’s not good for his knees.” Well, one in five kids suffers from Osgood Schlatter disease, especially kids that are athletes. I happen to be one of them. I had growing pains because I grew when I was 15 years old a little too quickly. I know I’m only 5 foot n but I still have those growing pains in my legs and in my back. Debilitating at times but manageable, right? All you had to do was ice him down, relax, not overdo it as far as sports are concerned. And that’s all it was and that’s all this is for David Rybacher. So to turn around and say that he’s made a glass or that he’s injuryprone, it’s a little bit of a stretch because this wasn’t an injury. It was actually a natural occurrence for a lot of kids, especially kids that grow to be very tall like David Reinbacher. Now, here’s the thing. When you look at his rehab, he’s skating quite well, and you can see it here in this video where he’s going around the sticks, skating inside out, pushing hard off the leg leg, left leg, excuse me, firing on goal. I mean, that’s pretty much straightforward as far as movement is concerned. And it’s not like he’s in rehab right now. He’s just testing it out to be sure that it’s ready to go. He tested it out last year when he came back for the Laval Rocket where you can see him here at the top right of your screen taking a shot there. Looking good, skating back. Now, here you got him on the right side skating up ice with the puck. Very smooth. Comes across the line, shifts his weight, gets a shot on goal. And that’s all you have to really look at when it comes to David Reinbacher. You’re not looking to see whether or not, you know, he can accelerate at super speed. What you want from a defenseman is fluidity, agility, and that’s all. And that’s what you’ve got from Ryan Bcker at that point. When it comes to his skating, he’s a very fluid skater. Knows how to use his hips, knows how to use his weight, has a good, very good center of balance, and so his ability to skate not in question. his knee. He came back and played 11 games in the regular season, plus another 13, I believe, in the playoffs in the American Hockey League. So, 24 games after coming back, and he looked good. I don’t see the reason why anybody should panic about his health at this point. Can another injury happen? We’ve seen it happen to Kirby Doc. It’s possible, but so long as he rehabs the knee properly and the knee is strong enough, and I think the Canadians medical staff is going to be uber careful, especially after the second injury to Kirby Doc when it comes to David Reybacher as well, and they’re going to make sure he’s 100% to be able to play in the National Hockey League when and if the time comes. Now, here’s the thing about the if. I don’t think David Rybacher is going to learn anything more in the American Hockey League. You know, you heard it from Logan Meer as he was interviewed after he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. And he outright said that David Rybacher is ready for the National Hockey League. He’s got a little bit of a mean streak. He’s good at angling guys along the boards, uses a good stick, moves the puck up quickly, can skate it up the ice, as you saw from those highlights. So, what’s the reason behind keeping him in the American Hockey League for another season? It’s not as if he was making anywhere near the same mistakes that Logan Meyer was, where Mayer was focusing too much on offense and not enough on defense. Ryan Bacher’s game was a lot more balanced as far as moving the puck up the ice and being solid defensively in his own zone. He rarely made big mistakes in his own zone or anything glaring. I gave the puck away a few times, but nothing out of the ordinary, especially not for the American Hockey League. So, if you’re going to give a pass to Elaine Hudson who brings offense a thousand% and makes mistakes along the way, why not give that same leash to a kid that’s shown that he could provide offense, play well def and play well defensively? I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t. And given that the Montreal Canadians are not yet Stanley Cup contenders, why not do what you’ve done for the majority of the roster and allow David Ryanbacher a year, maybe two to develop before you actually get into the nitty-gritty of playoff contention? I mean, wouldn’t you want that now as opposed to bringing him in as a rookie in a year or two and saying, “Okay, David, uh, we’re going into the playoffs. We need you to be our best defenseman.” Not really fair to the kid, I don’t think. So, giving him a little bit of experience. I fully expect the Canadians to make the playoffs this year. I think you guys do as well. Make sure you put it in the comments below if you don’t. But, I think they’re going to make the playoffs. I think they’re not going to be at the bottom of the Atlantic division. I honestly think they’re going to be probably third. I don’t think they’ll be a wild card this time around. You know, I know I think the Ottawa Senators are going to fall back a little bit. And I think Montreal is really going to make a push. Their defense is among the best in the league, ranked number five by Thomas Hickeyi of the NHL network. Stu Grimson agree with him. So I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to put Ryan Bacher in the NHL lineup right now, especially given the fact that I know all of you are going to say that Jane Strou is great with Lane Hudson. But here’s the thing about Jaden Strouel and Lane Hudson that I’ve repeated time and time again. The advanced stats, despite the fact that they’re great for those two guys, are a bit of a bit skewed because they don’t really play in the defensive zone. Their defensive zone starts starts are below 40%. The majority of them in the in the offensive zone, which is to be expected given the fact that Lane Hatson is such a good offensive defenseman and he does start a lot of it on the power play. That’s fine. But for Strugel, whether he’s there or whether he’s not, I mean, it’s a coin flip. I don’t see Strugel being any better or worse than David Rybacher. So, why not bring Ryan Bcker in? See what he could bring to the table? Give him a good solid look during the preseason, three, maybe four games out of the six, and see how he fares. And if he impresses you, then Montreal has decisions to make. As I mentioned in the previous video a few days ago, I think that both Jackie and Strub are on the hot seat. I think they need to push a little bit this year because their jobs are on the line, especially in the case of of Jackie whose contract is going to be up at the end of this year. And Reinbacher is going to be one of those guys pushing him out of the way. Not like he doesn’t like the guy, but he wants to be at the NHL level. The same can be held for Angstrom, but that’s all going to be contingent on how Strual and Jackie play and how long Mike Mat remains with the Montreal Canadians because I think the next man up from the AHL is Adam Mangstrom and that’s after David Ryan Barker. But I think that David Ryan Barker should start the season in Montreal. Of course, if he comes out and he has a really bad preseason, all bets are off. But given what I saw last year, both in the regular season and in the playoffs for the Laval Rocket, I don’t see a reason. I don’t see him learning anything more at the AHL level. Playing in Switzerland, that league needs a lot of skating. It’s offensive minded, so there’s a lot of work to be done there for defenseman. And so coming to the AHL, he’s adapted to the smaller ice, but what more do you want? There’s nothing more to look at. David Rybacher is ready for prime time at least on a third pairing and take it from there. You’ve got Cal and you’ve got Dobson on the right side who can play on the first and second pairing. Why not put Calier with Hudson and then pair up Mat with Ryan Bucker? Insulate him with a veteran. Why not? What do you have to lose? Zero. Let me know in the comments what you think. Do you think there’s a better option on defense? Do you think Angstrom should get a better look than Ryan Bucker this preseason despite the fact that there’s an overload of left-handed defenseman on the Montreal Canadiens? Let me know. That’s it for now. We’ll talk next week.

David Reinbacher could be the missing piece on the right side of the Montreal Canadiens blue line, and in this episode, Kosta breaks down exactly why the Habs need him in the lineup ASAP. Whether you’re a hardcore Montreal Canadiens fan, a follower of NHL prospects, or just love analyzing hockey systems, this deep dive is for you.

With the Canadiens in full rebuild mode, developing a strong defensive core is crucial. Reinbacher, the Habs’ 5th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, brings size, mobility, and high hockey IQ—exactly what the Canadiens need on the right side of the defense. We explore how Reinbacher stacks up against other defensemen like Jayden Struble, Arber Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom.

Should Kent Hughes and Martin St. Louis fast-track his development? Is Reinbacher ready to take on NHL minutes this season?

Don’t miss this must-watch analysis for Montreal Canadiens fans, NHL enthusiasts, and anyone following the rise of elite young talent in the league.

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