Prospect Info: David Reinbacher

[Rapala]

is anyone able to watch this, is the audio choppy AF for you or is it my internet cause most of their vids I clicked on were doing that.

video is fine but the audio ****'s.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Question for the Michkov fanboys here:

I've heard a lot about his "generational" and "historical" KHL season for a draft eligible player.

In their respective draft years:

Ovechkin had 24 points in 53 games (.45 ppg) and Michkov had 20 points in 27 games (.74 ppg)
In Ovechkins D+1 year, he had 27 pts in 37 games (.73 ppg)

To me, this is less about Ovechkins "record" and more about how 18 year olds are used in the KHL. Because as we all know Ovechkin went on to score 52 goals and 106 points in his rookie NHL season, so obviously he was being held back in some degree by coaching decisions and or ice time in the KHL.

Its a similar situation to saying Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a better rookie season than Joe Thornton. Yes he did, but who cares.

Am I offbase here?

 

[McGees]

video is fine but the audio ****'s.

Wha-a-a-a-a-a-a Do-o-o-o-o-o Y-o-o-o-u-u-u M-e-e-e-a-a-a-n-n-n-n ?

 

[SlafySZN]

"I'm going to wear it to my first game back home, and then I'm going to wear it for my first game in Montreal."

Giving us a hint that he is sure he is going back in switzerland for another season!

David Reinbacher receives custom denim jacket at Nashville Draft | Montréal Canadiens

Montreal is in his jeans

www.nhl.com

 

[yianik]

I wouldn't be against becoming the new Red Wings, who were known for simmering guys in the AHL for years...

It worked quite well for them for a while...

I know what you mean, but I wouldn't call it simmering, I would call it not giving up on their prospects.

I'm good with that approach. Which is also why I'm good with trying to give guys every chance we can give them. Maybe that means holding another guy back a little bit to give another guy who may need to clear waivers a bit more time

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

That is indeed quite troubling, esp. on a team where offence is not its strongest suit.

I was not sold on most of the other players available at that time as top end offensive prospects. Perhaps Reinbacher's ability to kill plays and move the puck quickly will help facilitate an increase in productivity from the young core forwards that we already have?

I was not sold on Leonard as a player that will generate alot of offence although I think he will be a nice complimentary piece and Benson has too many question marks like size and speed that might hamper him (I do think he has star potential just too much risk at #5) Dvorsky was the only one left outside of Michkov that I thought was a safe bet to create offence and he perfectly fits with Hughes' organizational/team building philosophy. Wood was the other forward who has home run potential along with Perreault but he suffers from some of the same questions that I have about Benson.

When I sit back and look at this situation objectively it is much less of a surprise that Hughes took Reinbacher. This is not to say that I necessarily endorse the pick but the reasoning behind the pick is very clear. If Hughes did not think that there was a gamebreaking forward left he likely felt that Reinbacher should be part of that group and his value as a RD gave him the edge over players that he had in the same tier. This matches up with Hughes' explanation of the pick and we are free to challenge this rationale but at least it does seem more reasonable as long as we can accept that he did not consider Michkov an option due to the perceived risk factor associated with him.

 

[ZUKI]

You forgot Arbs, for me he's one of the bigger pieces of our future core, captain material. What has Struble done besides looked good without a shirt?

without his slip ...

 

[yianik]

How did that work out for the Habs in the finals? They got completely dismantled and exposed by Tampa's skill and speed. It was brutal to watch.

Yes. Bergevin couldn't help himself. Kudos to him for seeing that a big, mobile, physical defence was the way to go for playoff success. But he went too far and placed no value on skilled PMD. I remember back then that we easily could have gotten players like that. I think the Avalanche picked up Toews for 2 2nd round picks and we had two better 2nd round picks and could have gotten him, but no, Bergie wanted the D in his own image.

 

[Runner77]

I was not sold on most of the other players available at that time as top end offensive prospects. Perhaps Reinbacher's ability to kill plays and move the puck quickly will help facilitate an increase in productivity from the young core forwards that we already have?

I was not sold on Leonard as a player that will generate alot of offence although I think he will be a nice complimentary piece and Benson has too many question marks like size and speed that might hamper him (I do think he has star potential just too much risk at #5) Dvorsky was the only one left outside of Michkov that I thought was a safe but to create offence and he perfectly fits with Hughes' organizational/team building philosophy. Wood was the other forward who has home run potential along with Perreault but he suffers from some of the same questions that I have about Benson.

When I sit back and look at this situation objectively it is much less of a surprise that Hughes took Reinbacher. This is not to say that I necessarily endorse the pick but the reasoning behind the pick is very clear. If Hughes did not think that there was a gamebreaking forward left he likely felt that Reinbacher should be part of that group and his value as a RD gave him the edge over players that. This matches up with Hughes' explanation of the pick and we are free to challenge this rationale but at least it does seem more reasonable as long as we can accept that he did not consider Michkov an option due to the perceived risk factor associated with him.

I’m way past Michkov at this point and I suspect you are as well. I’m assuming the Habs knew something that overshadowed Michkov’s attributes for offence.

That aside, I think it was a matter of who else was available and whether any of them could at least be close to Cs taken 2-4. I think you laid out a convincing rationale for them to have at least considered Dvorsky.

Clearly, we missed out on our desired offensive forward who went in the 2-4 slots. We were just on the outside looking in. Same thing happened when we fell out of the top 2 spots in the Dahlin-Svechnikov draft. Not to overlook the year that Jarmo foiled our shot at PLD.

Of course, we only get the very top pick in a weak draft but dems are the breaks.

 

[Mrb1p]

Arpon's pretty much a mouthpiece for the organization so all of this nonsense probably tracks with whatever limp dick mentality they had internally.

Which just goes to show what kind of incompetent losers they are. How do you not find a way to have a scout in Russia, probably the second most prominent hockey country? Just hire someone from there and then do some damned zoom calls if you can't get anyone in there FFS.

I love that limp dick is catching on.

Question for the Michkov fanboys here:

I've heard a lot about his "generational" and "historical" KHL season for a draft eligible player.

In their respective draft years:

Ovechkin had 24 points in 53 games (.45 ppg) and Michkov had 20 points in 27 games (.74 ppg)
In Ovechkins D+1 year, he had 27 pts in 37 games (.73 ppg)

To me, this is less about Ovechkins "record" and more about how 18 year olds are used in the KHL. Because as we all know Ovechkin went on to score 52 goals and 106 points in his rookie NHL season, so obviously he was being held back in some degree by coaching decisions and or ice time in the KHL.

Its a similar situation to saying Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a better rookie season than Joe Thornton. Yes he did, but who cares.

Am I offbase here?

You dont think Michkov would be able to score 100 points in two years? I do. You think Bedard will?

 

[Belial]

"I'm going to wear it to my first game back home, and then I'm going to wear it for my first game in Montreal."

Giving us a hint that he is sure he is going back in switzerland for another season!

David Reinbacher receives custom denim jacket at Nashville Draft | Montréal Canadiens

Montreal is in his jeans

www.nhl.com

I doubt that decision is already settled...

 

[Goldenhands]

Arpon's pretty much a mouthpiece for the organization so all of this nonsense probably tracks with whatever limp dick mentality they had internally.

Which just goes to show what kind of incompetent losers they are. How do you not find a way to have a scout in Russia, probably the second most prominent hockey country? Just hire someone from there and then do some damned zoom calls if you can't get anyone in there FFS.

[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TH]Rk[/TH]
[TH]Nationality[/TH]
[TH]SHG[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]Canada[/TD]
[TD]47.8%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]United States[/TD]
[TD]25.2%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]Sweden[/TD]
[TD]10.0%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]Russia[/TD]
[TD]3.2%[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

3,2% with a war going on. 1st Russian to not honor his NHL contract last week (Fedotov).

I understand the fans to be frustrated so I will avoid to insult you, But no way they were passing on a potential top RD for a kid coming with so many red flags in Michkov. Thats risk management and obviously, the risk factor was too high. There is also a culture they are trying to establish and believe in, they are not only drafting hockey players, but individuals with particular charactere traits, you can disagree with this approach, but future will prove them right all along, thats my own prediction. Now our blieline is set for the next 12 yrs and we are still headed through 3 other years of struggle so we will get the opportunities to add to our young talented fowards group in the upcoming drafts or via trades similar to the Dach, Newhook deals. Our prospects pool is stacked and there will be ton of possibilities to improve our roster in due time. But keep crying on Michkov and crapping on our management if it makes you feel better.

 

[Mudz]

I was not sold on most of the other players available at that time as top end offensive prospects. Perhaps Reinbacher's ability to kill plays and move the puck quickly will help facilitate an increase in productivity from the young core forwards that we already have?

I was not sold on Leonard as a player that will generate alot of offence although I think he will be a nice complimentary piece and Benson has too many question marks like size and speed that might hamper him (I do think he has star potential just too much risk at #5) Dvorsky was the only one left outside of Michkov that I thought was a safe but to create offence and he perfectly fits with Hughes' organizational/team building philosophy. Wood was the other forward who has home run potential along with Perreault but he suffers from some of the same questions that I have about Benson.

When I sit back and look at this situation objectively it is much less of a surprise that Hughes took Reinbacher. This is not to say that I necessarily endorse the pick but the reasoning behind the pick is very clear. If Hughes did not think that there was a gamebreaking forward left he likely felt that Reinbacher should be part of that group and his value as a RD gave him the edge over players that he had in the same tier. This matches up with Hughes' explanation of the pick and we are free to challenge this rationale but at least it does seem more reasonable as long as we can accept that he did not consider Michkov an option due to the perceived risk factor associated with him.

Great post. I'll just add that a PMD like, we are hopeful, Reinbacher will become is an enabler. A force multiplicator. Since MTL play off the rush, having a PMD is crucial. The facts that he can skate and is a righty are bonuses. Plus his number one quality is killing plays. MTL need to diminish their GA output by 50 goals if they want to make the playoffs.

 

[Scriptor]

Great post. I'll just add that a PMD like, we are hopeful, Reinbacher will become is an enabler. A force multiplicator. Since MTL play off the rush, having a PMD is crucial. The facts that he can skate and is a righty are bonuses. Plus his number one quality is killing plays. MTL need to diminish their GA output by 50 goals if they want to make the playoffs.

Hutson - Reinbacher

Hutson creates offense and Reinbacher kills plays while being able to support Hutson in his offensive creativity.

Guhle - Mailloux

Mailloux creates offense and Guhle kills plays, while being able to support Mailloux in his offensive creativity.

For an eventual top-4, not a bad complementarity!

Xhekaj, on a 3rd pairing, to a lesser degree, kills plays and can support offense. Actually, he plain kills opponents and can support offense.

Engstrom, down the line, probably surpasses Harris and Barron by a fair margin and could be Xhekaj's partner while playing on his off side.

With an eventual Cap allotment just shy of 35% on an eventual 95M Cap ceiling (within 4-5 years, most likely, the key will be signing higher end and mid-tier players to long term contrats at reasonable salaries and Cap hits.

For example, signing Xhekaj, if he proves healthy this year, to a long term deal worth no more than 3M would be solid asset management as the average break down for D salaries should be:

(1) 7.5M - (2) 7.5M
(3) 5M - (4) 5M
(5) 3M - (6) 3M
(7) 1M

Swing it a bit heavier one way and a bit lighter the other to offset the difference, but this is an average salary breakdown to reach just under 35% of a projected 95M Cap ceiling.

Some youngsters will offset overpayment to a D or two, but, eventually, salaries need to even out this way for a solid D-Corps, IMO.

With 8M allowed to a G tandem, this would leave around 55M for the forward group.

With 2M for the short term injury reserve and 1M (no more) for the 14th forward that helps us reach a 23-man roster, the average salary for 13 forwards would be around 4M and that should help us ice a solid offense!

The key is to continue drafting talent as difficult decisions will always become necessary when younger players pony up for larger contracts based on performance.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I think some people recently are bringing up some great points that I believe have been echoed in the Canadiens front office.

Offense is pretty hard to create, no matter how skilled your forward group is, if the puck remains in your own end for a prolonged period of time.

They won't have a very long leash this year for the Suzuki-Caufield duo because they noticed that a lot of their shifts are them struggling to get the puck out of their own end and being too gassed to create something offensively.

Dach helped immensely with that but they want Dach at center where he helps the team more by being the leader of his own line.

Having a defense that kills plays and moves the puck up the ice to the skilled guys efficiently and quickly is how offense is created. You might not see it on the stat sheet every time because so many touches happen after a guy like Reinbacher kills a play and moves it up ice, but that is how offense begins in the NHL and you won't score many goals from your own end.

 

[NORiculous]

Question for the Michkov fanboys here:

I've heard a lot about his "generational" and "historical" KHL season for a draft eligible player.

In their respective draft years:

Ovechkin had 24 points in 53 games (.45 ppg) and Michkov had 20 points in 27 games (.74 ppg)
In Ovechkins D+1 year, he had 27 pts in 37 games (.73 ppg)

To me, this is less about Ovechkins "record" and more about how 18 year olds are used in the KHL. Because as we all know Ovechkin went on to score 52 goals and 106 points in his rookie NHL season, so obviously he was being held back in some degree by coaching decisions and or ice time in the KHL.

Its a similar situation to saying Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a better rookie season than Joe Thornton. Yes he did, but who cares.

Am I offbase here?

I am not sure where you want to go with this but I don’t think most fans think Michkov is better than Ovechkin. But it does show he has huge offensive potential though.

 

[junyab]

I’d be curious to know who would be concocting such an insane disconnect. Talk about two completely unrelated concepts.

Every player is evaluated on his own merits first and foremost.

Also, we keep seeing the absurd claim about how Reinbacher was the best D in a forward heavy draft as if it raises his stock. He ought to be good because his evaluation says he’s good. Would he still be considered the best D, say in comparison with the crop of a defence-heavy draft like next year? This is why making the claim is meaningless.

That's the plan I thought we should take. Select the best forward in a forward heavy draft this year and select the best D of a D heavy draft next year.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I am not sure where you want to go with this but I don’t think most fans think Michkov is better than Ovechkin. But it does show he has huge offensive potential though.

It's directed at the fans that called the season generational or historical.

That's the plan I thought we should take. Select the best forward in a forward heavy draft this year and select the best D of a D heavy draft next year.

The last d heavy draft I remember was in 2012. First two defenseman picked were Ryan Murray and Griffin Reinhart. Obviously they felt rein had more potential than Leonard or michkov

 

[rahad]

Maybe if he turns into a Doughty clone, I would be good.

If he has a Doughty clone, he would have gone in the top 3.

 

[malcb33]

Question for the Michkov fanboys here:

I've heard a lot about his "generational" and "historical" KHL season for a draft eligible player.

In their respective draft years:

Ovechkin had 24 points in 53 games (.45 ppg) and Michkov had 20 points in 27 games (.74 ppg)
In Ovechkins D+1 year, he had 27 pts in 37 games (.73 ppg)

To me, this is less about Ovechkins "record" and more about how 18 year olds are used in the KHL. Because as we all know Ovechkin went on to score 52 goals and 106 points in his rookie NHL season, so obviously he was being held back in some degree by coaching decisions and or ice time in the KHL.

Its a similar situation to saying Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a better rookie season than Joe Thornton. Yes he did, but who cares.

Am I offbase here?

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that many people on HFboards believe that progression is linear in young hockey players.

I see that all the time here, and IMO it's a lazy and uneducated take, because if it were that easy then anyone could get a job in hockey.

The reality is much more difficult, as you need to identify the reasons and context for those points and understand what areas that the player can still improve on and their willingness to do so. From my conversations with amateur scouts, this is how they are trying to project a player, which isn't easy to do because of the variables and human elements to it.

 

[Frank Drebin]

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that many people on HFboards believe that progression is linear in young hockey players.

I see that all the time here, and IMO it's a lazy and uneducated take, because if it were that easy then anyone could get a job in hockey.

The reality is much more difficult, as you need to identify the reasons and context for those points and understand what areas that play can still improve on and their willingness to do so. From my conversations with amateur scouts, this is how they are trying to project a player, which isn't easy to do because of the variables and human elements to it.

No, I'm simply talking about the statistical (generational or historical) significance of michkovs draft year in the khl and how it is used to compare against other great players draft years in the khl.

 

[junyab]

Question for the Michkov fanboys here:

I've heard a lot about his "generational" and "historical" KHL season for a draft eligible player.

In their respective draft years:

Ovechkin had 24 points in 53 games (.45 ppg) and Michkov had 20 points in 27 games (.74 ppg)
In Ovechkins D+1 year, he had 27 pts in 37 games (.73 ppg)

To me, this is less about Ovechkins "record" and more about how 18 year olds are used in the KHL. Because as we all know Ovechkin went on to score 52 goals and 106 points in his rookie NHL season, so obviously he was being held back in some degree by coaching decisions and or ice time in the KHL.

Its a similar situation to saying Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a better rookie season than Joe Thornton. Yes he did, but who cares.

Am I offbase here?

No, I'm simply talking about the statistical (generational or historical) significance of michkovs draft year in the khl and how it is used to compare against other great players draft years in the khl.

You can compare them, yes, but you can't make any worthwhile conclusions (like the one I've bolded) from the exercise.

 

[waffledave]

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that many people on HFboards believe that progression is linear in young hockey players.

I see that all the time here, and IMO it's a lazy and uneducated take, because if it were that easy then anyone could get a job in hockey.

The reality is much more difficult, as you need to identify the reasons and context for those points and understand what areas that play can still improve on and their willingness to do so. From my conversations with amateur scouts, this is how they are trying to project a player, which isn't easy to do because of the variables and human elements to it.

Yep. It's not enough to just look at raw numbers, which is what a lot of people have done with Michkov. The truth is the KHL is not as strong recently due to the war and a lot of western players leaving Russia in favour of other European leagues. And it's often dismissed as nothing but 40% of Michkov's points came in 2 games again a horrible team with a horrible goalie (literally had like a 9.00 GAA). His numbers are still impressive taking those 2 games out but 12 points in 25 games isn't the same as 20 points in 27 games.

 

[Kaladin]

Question for the Michkov fanboys here:

I've heard a lot about his "generational" and "historical" KHL season for a draft eligible player.

In their respective draft years:

Ovechkin had 24 points in 53 games (.45 ppg) and Michkov had 20 points in 27 games (.74 ppg)
In Ovechkins D+1 year, he had 27 pts in 37 games (.73 ppg)

To me, this is less about Ovechkins "record" and more about how 18 year olds are used in the KHL. Because as we all know Ovechkin went on to score 52 goals and 106 points in his rookie NHL season, so obviously he was being held back in some degree by coaching decisions and or ice time in the KHL.

Its a similar situation to saying Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a better rookie season than Joe Thornton. Yes he did, but who cares.

Am I offbase here?

Am I crazy or are you making the case for Michkov with this post?

You cite Michkov's higher ppg statistically in their respective draft years. Then you go on to say that Ovi's record may/should have been higher than it otherwise was because young players are held back to some degree in the KHL (which I agree with) and point to what he ended up doing in the NHL soon after. Does this not also apply to Michkov as a young player in the KHL?

The KHL is the second best hockey league played by actual adults in the world. To be historically good at his age in that league that has been running for as long as it has means something. To have a better stats than a player that has destroyed the NHL means something. It's not the be all end all of course but it's a indicator amongst many that this kid is the real deal. His historic performances against his own peers is another indicator. These indicators add up and paint a story. Some have chosen to ignore that story in a attempt to cope with our management's blunder but I prefer not making excuses for Hughes.

 

[CHwest]

Hutson - Reinbacher

Hutson creates offense and Reinbacher kills plays while being able to support Hutson in his offensive creativity.

Guhle - Mailloux

Mailloux creates offense and Guhle kills plays, while being able to support Mailloux in his offensive creativity.

For an eventual top-4, not a bad complementarity!

Xhekaj, on a 3rd pairing, to a lesser degree, kills plays and can support offense. Actually, he plain kills opponents and can support offense.

Engstrom, down the line, probably surpasses Harris and Barron by a fair margin and could be Xhekaj's partner while playing on his off side.

With an eventual Cap allotment just shy of 35% on an eventual 95M Cap ceiling (within 4-5 years, most likely, the key will be signing higher end and mid-tier players to long term contrats at reasonable salaries and Cap hits.

For example, signing Xhekaj, if he proves healthy this year, to a long term deal worth no more than 3M would be solid asset management as the average break down for D salaries should be:

(1) 7.5M - (2) 7.5M
(3) 5M - (4) 5M
(5) 3M - (6) 3M
(7) 1M

Swing it a bit heavier one way and a bit lighter the other to offset the difference, but this is an average salary breakdown to reach just under 35% of a projected 95M Cap ceiling.

Some youngsters will offset overpayment to a D or two, but, eventually, salaries need to even out this way for a solid D-Corps, IMO.

With 8M allowed to a G tandem, this would leave around 55M for the forward group.

With 2M for the short term injury reserve and 1M (no more) for the 14th forward that helps us reach a 23-man roster, the average salary for 13 forwards would be around 4M and that should help us ice a solid offense!

The key is to continue drafting talent as difficult decisions will always become necessary when younger players pony up for larger contracts based on performance.

If it works out it will be pretty sweet.