Prospect Info: David Reinbacher - Get Well Soon Edition

[montreal]

Since you’ve seen him the most, where would you rank him on a scale of Petry to Lidstrom?

I'm not a fan and often when I read posters saying top pairing shut down D, I know they haven't been watching my vids (not many did by the # of views). He's more Petry from what I saw, someone that has NHL size, mobility, but is not close to being a shut down D, In fact I think he will need someone like Guhle to be paired with, but I also think he's got more offense then some give him credit for.

 

[Benstheman]

I'm not a fan and often when I read posters saying top pairing shut down D, I know they haven't been watching my vids (not many did by the # of views). He's more Petry from what I saw, someone that has NHL size, mobility, but is not close to being a shut down D, In fact I think he will need someone like Guhle to be paired with, but I also think he's got more offense then some give him credit for.

I always seen him as a 2-way D like Guhle. But Guhle is more defense than offense and Reinbacher is more offense than defense.

I’m pretty sure he won’t be a liability on defense like Petry was.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I always seen him as a 2-way D like Guhle. But Guhle is more defense than offense and Reinbacher is more offense than defense.

I’m pretty sure he won’t be a liability on defense like Petry was.

Petry really wasn’t a liability for most of his career

He was always pretty solid but prone to the occasional gaff, similar to Reinbacher.

If you watch @montreal’s videos you’ll see plenty of good plays but typically 2-3 times per game where he makes a bad read, gets beat out wide, or mishandles the puck at the blue line.

I think he probably won’t get beat out wide as much on smaller ice

 

[montreal]

The main thing now is we need to see how it goes in Laval when he's back next month. I didn't want to pick him but I will always root for him and every Hab prospect as in the end the only thing that matters to me is I want to see the Habs win a cup again.

Most posters won't admit that they are full of shit because they so often say things that are impossible to know. I have been hard on Mesar and Reinbacher, but I hope they end up the greatest NHLers in history, but at the same time posters saying Mesar is a bust at 18, 19, 20, when it's just about impossible to know the rate at which a prospect will progress or not. And that is EVERYTHING for prospects, you either keep progressing year over year or not. If you think you know how any say non Crosby, McDavid, etc.. is going to progress over 5 years, how they will mentally handle the grind, the spotlight, fans, money, social life, failure, injuries, etc, etc. etc..

That's why I started my channel, so fans can see (if they bother to) the rate of progress, the good and the bad and judge for themselves as EVERYONE will see things differently and EVERYONE will get things wrong it's just a question of how often. I never take posters serious that either bash or do nothing but praise any prospect as opinions must be fluid because the situation is often fluid over say 5 years from draft day.

You won't here me use the word bust, I don't like the word ruin, but for me I place a very high amount in proper development, and the impact good/bad coaching can have on said prospect. I always try to keep an open mind and I know I will be wrong plenty of times, as if you only care about being right then the safe money is on bashing the non top 5, 10, 15 picks because odds are on your side. But I don't care about being right, I hate to be wrong but I know it happens so I work hard to try not to be but there are tons of things I don't have access to in terms of info. I just try and call it like i see it and track the progress over time.

 

[ReHabs]

I'm not a fan and often when I read posters saying top pairing shut down D, I know they haven't been watching my vids (not many did by the # of views). He's more Petry from what I saw, someone that has NHL size, mobility, but is not close to being a shut down D, In fact I think he will need someone like Guhle to be paired with, but I also think he's got more offense then some give him credit for.

@Kobe Armstrong and yourself seem to have a a read on Reinbacher that is generally at odds with the "prevailing winds" of the commentariat. Thank you both for your input but you're clearly wrong, Reinbacher is a future Shea Weber style beast or at the very least a premium Alex Pietrangelo

The main thing now is we need to see how it goes in Laval when he's back next month. I didn't want to pick him but I will always root for him and every Hab prospect as in the end the only thing that matters to me is I want to see the Habs win a cup again.

Most posters won't admit that they are full of shit because they so often say things that are impossible to know. I have been hard on Mesar and Reinbacher, but I hope they end up the greatest NHLers in history, but at the same time posters saying Mesar is a bust at 18, 19, 20, when it's just about impossible to know the rate at which a prospect will progress or not. And that is EVERYTHING for prospects, you either keep progressing year over year or not. If you think you know how any say non Crosby, McDavid, etc.. is going to progress over 5 years, how they will mentally handle the grind, the spotlight, fans, money, social life, failure, injuries, etc, etc. etc..

That's why I started my channel, so fans can see (if they bother to) the rate of progress, the good and the bad and judge for themselves as EVERYONE will see things differently and EVERYONE will get things wrong it's just a question of how often. I never take posters serious that either bash or do nothing but praise any prospect as opinions must be fluid because the situation is often fluid over say 5 years from draft day.

You won't here me use the word bust, I don't like the word ruin, but for me I place a very high amount in proper development, and the impact good/bad coaching can have on said prospect. I always try to keep an open mind and I know I will be wrong plenty of times, as if you only care about being right then the safe money is on bashing the non top 5, 10, 15 picks because odds are on your side. But I don't care about being right, I hate to be wrong but I know it happens so I work hard to try not to be but there are tons of things I don't have access to in terms of info. I just try and call it like i see it and track the progress over time.

I stopped following prospects once my life got too busy but the 10 or so years of Bergevin really helped expedite my falling out of love with the minutiae of hockey, prospect development, etc. Thanks for keeping the flame alive.

What's most interesting is trying to figure out the underlying or common factors between success cases and failures. I really hope it isn't as mystical as "the successful prospect worked harder" and "the bust didn't work hard enough". I hope there are more qualities and metrics and stats that can help make the distinction and help improve our understanding of this process -- even though it'll never be complete or perfect.

What I mean is, for example, skating. In the past you could say a prospect's skating would hold him back and be more right than wrong. By the early-2010s it was clear that skating was becoming over-emphasized in commentary spaces and the professionals and young players had by then already improved overall skating abilities a ton. Now the NHL doesn't have many "poor" skaters left and the level is higher than ever before. What is the next distinct quality that can flag a future NHLer and a future bust?

 

[Scriptor]

Drive.

 

[FerrisRox]

I have friend of a friend who knows an NHL scout (not employed by Montreal, but a team in their division) and I had a chance to chat with him, briefly, at a holiday party last month about David Reinbacher.

He was very keen on Reinbacher, and while the conversation was pretty quick, he said that he felt Reinbacher played much larger than his size, but he didn't mean in terms of being punishing physically, he said that Reinbacher uses his stick very well and appears to have the reach of a much bigger defender and he also had very high praise for his IQ. He said he almost always makes the right the decision, doesn't get flustered or pressured and in his opinion, he made an excellent adjustment to smaller ice when he joined Laval last year. He said most defenders making that jump have a very hard time in their own zone because they have less time and space and generally North American forwards are much more punishing in terms of finishing their checks. He said Reinbacher made that adjustment very well in large part because of his high end IQ and that he seems to always "have a plan" rather than simply reacting.
He also had very high praise for his gap control and his "decision making" when it came to pinching.

I asked him if he felt his injury was really going to throw a wrench into his development and time line towards eventually being an NHLer and he said because of his high IQ, he expected there to be less necessity for him to "adjust" and "learn" at the AHL level so missing a couple of months of games would hurt him less than a defender who really needed to learn the pace and the physicality of the AHL. He said a "reactive" defender would make a lot of mistakes because they would making low percentage plays out of instinct rather than solid decision making.

He also said he strongly believe that while Reinbacher was a distributor, he felt he had excellent shot and that he should use it much more than he has.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I keep seeing this thread bumped and getting my hopes up that David has returned to play again.

It's just been too long since he's done anything that it almost feels like we don't have him as a prospect.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

I keep seeing this thread bumped and getting my hopes up that David has returned to play again.

It's just been too long since he's done anything that it almost feels like we don't have him as a prospect.

He's on schedule to make his season debut next month, be patient just a few weeks more, everything will be coming up Milhouse for the kid soon enough

 

[red devil]

 

[yianik]

I have friend of a friend who knows an NHL scout (not employed by Montreal, but a team in their division) and I had a chance to chat with him, briefly, at a holiday party last month about David Reinbacher.

He was very keen on Reinbacher, and while the conversation was pretty quick, he said that he felt Reinbacher played much larger than his size, but he didn't mean in terms of being punishing physically, he said that Reinbacher uses his stick very well and appears to have the reach of a much bigger defender and he also had very high praise for his IQ. He said he almost always makes the right the decision, doesn't get flustered or pressured and in his opinion, he made an excellent adjustment to smaller ice when he joined Laval last year. He said most defenders making that jump have a very hard time in their own zone because they have less time and space and generally North American forwards are much more punishing in terms of finishing their checks. He said Reinbacher made that adjustment very well in large part because of his high end IQ and that he seems to always "have a plan" rather than simply reacting.
He also had very high praise for his gap control and his "decision making" when it came to pinching.

I asked him if he felt his injury was really going to throw a wrench into his development and time line towards eventually being an NHLer and he said because of his high IQ, he expected there to be less necessity for him to "adjust" and "learn" at the AHL level so missing a couple of months of games would hurt him less than a defender who really needed to learn the pace and the physicality of the AHL. He said a "reactive" defender would make a lot of mistakes because they would making low percentage plays out of instinct rather than solid decision making.

He also said he strongly believe that while Reinbacher was a distributor, he felt he had excellent shot and that he should use it much more than he has.

Cool.

 

[sampollock]

Just another person who put their stake in their ground on a player at their worst and won't change their opinion.

true enough
like so many waiting for the stake to be driven in PL

gets old wethree I know

 

[Deebs]

Great news.

 

[red devil]

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I have friend of a friend who knows an NHL scout (not employed by Montreal, but a team in their division) and I had a chance to chat with him, briefly, at a holiday party last month about David Reinbacher.

He was very keen on Reinbacher, and while the conversation was pretty quick, he said that he felt Reinbacher played much larger than his size, but he didn't mean in terms of being punishing physically, he said that Reinbacher uses his stick very well and appears to have the reach of a much bigger defender and he also had very high praise for his IQ. He said he almost always makes the right the decision, doesn't get flustered or pressured and in his opinion, he made an excellent adjustment to smaller ice when he joined Laval last year. He said most defenders making that jump have a very hard time in their own zone because they have less time and space and generally North American forwards are much more punishing in terms of finishing their checks. He said Reinbacher made that adjustment very well in large part because of his high end IQ and that he seems to always "have a plan" rather than simply reacting.
He also had very high praise for his gap control and his "decision making" when it came to pinching.

I asked him if he felt his injury was really going to throw a wrench into his development and time line towards eventually being an NHLer and he said because of his high IQ, he expected there to be less necessity for him to "adjust" and "learn" at the AHL level so missing a couple of months of games would hurt him less than a defender who really needed to learn the pace and the physicality of the AHL. He said a "reactive" defender would make a lot of mistakes because they would making low percentage plays out of instinct rather than solid decision making.

He also said he strongly believe that while Reinbacher was a distributor, he felt he had excellent shot and that he should use it much more than he has.

Next time you see him ask if he’s more Petry or Lidstrom

 

[red devil]

 

[WinterLion]

SO HAPPY FOR THIS KID!! Rooting for him!!

 

[JianYang]

i hope sweetums is handling the mean words on twitter ok, it will only get better when he's in the NHL. I hear people on the ice are super nice to you and positive all the time. Apparently guys like Marchand are really supportive and encouraging to people that need it. Should be a breeze mentally from here onwards.

I don't think it's that comparable.

Something about unhinged strangers messaging crazy stuff to an 18 year old kid is off putting.

 

[red devil]

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I don't think it's that comparable.

Something about unhinged strangers messaging crazy stuff to an 18 year old kid is off putting.

It was supremely lame how much attention we gave to the <1% of the population who were actually sending him mean things.

Not to trivialize it, but it just wasn’t that big of a deal. News flash, every high profile athlete has to deal with mean comments, and NHL players deal with far less than other athletes.

To turn what was said about Reinbacher by a few very bad people into a news story was 100% the wrong way to go about things and just further instilled a victim mentality for this organization and player. Turning it into a big thing as the media did only served to the benefit of the people making the comments, because they got exactly what they wanted.

Remember when the Knicks drafted Kristaps Porzingis?? He received 10x the hate Reinbacher got and turned into a fan favorite the same season. They didn’t baby him because guess what, it may not be fun but it’s part of the lifestyle and New York is a hard place to play in, similar to Montreal.

To be successful in New York or Montreal you need to be able to handle the pressure and cancel out the outside noise. That doesn’t mean the mean people are right, just that you have to ignore it and they will come around. The media should NOT be making it worse by seeking out mean comments to report back to him.

 

[sampollock]

SO HAPPY FOR THIS KID!! Rooting for him!!

yup
hope he really gets to play a little this year.

 

[Andy]

The main thing now is we need to see how it goes in Laval when he's back next month. I didn't want to pick him but I will always root for him and every Hab prospect as in the end the only thing that matters to me is I want to see the Habs win a cup again.

Most posters won't admit that they are full of shit because they so often say things that are impossible to know. I have been hard on Mesar and Reinbacher, but I hope they end up the greatest NHLers in history, but at the same time posters saying Mesar is a bust at 18, 19, 20, when it's just about impossible to know the rate at which a prospect will progress or not. And that is EVERYTHING for prospects, you either keep progressing year over year or not. If you think you know how any say non Crosby, McDavid, etc.. is going to progress over 5 years, how they will mentally handle the grind, the spotlight, fans, money, social life, failure, injuries, etc, etc. etc..

That's why I started my channel, so fans can see (if they bother to) the rate of progress, the good and the bad and judge for themselves as EVERYONE will see things differently and EVERYONE will get things wrong it's just a question of how often. I never take posters serious that either bash or do nothing but praise any prospect as opinions must be fluid because the situation is often fluid over say 5 years from draft day.

You won't here me use the word bust, I don't like the word ruin, but for me I place a very high amount in proper development, and the impact good/bad coaching can have on said prospect. I always try to keep an open mind and I know I will be wrong plenty of times, as if you only care about being right then the safe money is on bashing the non top 5, 10, 15 picks because odds are on your side. But I don't care about being right, I hate to be wrong but I know it happens so I work hard to try not to be but there are tons of things I don't have access to in terms of info. I just try and call it like i see it and track the progress over time.

Thanks for the take. I’m honestly surprised by it.

I watch a lot of your DR videos and I see a young defender with great skating, great gap control, a really active stick, a good first pass, and an ability to move the play the other way. I also find he he has good hockey sense and plays with a good amount of poise.

It’s hard to imagine that he doesn’t end up at least in the Guhle range of defenders with those type of tools. It’s funny because the errors that he does make reminds me of some of the struggles McDonagh had before he became an nhl defender.

But it’s good to hear these perspectives. Would you say your excitement/your assessment of DR is slightly influenced by his draft position. Had this been a defender picked at 18, would you have different judgements about his development thus far?

Oops quoted the wrong post of yours

 

[ReHabs]

Next time you see him ask if he’s more Petry or Lidstrom

It's cool his neighbour think Reinbacher is seemingly flawless. No deficiencies, nothing to work on, not one thing out of place. I guess the answer is implied but clear: he's better than Lidström.

I like RB a lot for what it's worth. Sometimes dmen do better on the smaller ice. Maybe we'll see him in action this year.