Canadiens reassign former fifth-overall pick to AHL

The Canadiens reassigned 2023 fifth-overall pick David Reinbacher to the AHL’s Laval Rocket on Monday, per the minor league’s transactions log. The organization’s highest-drafted defense prospect will get his first taste of North American pro hockey to close out the 2023-24 season.

Reinbacher spent this season on loan to EHC Kloten of the Swiss National League, where he’s played since making his professional debut in 2021-22. The 19-year-old logged major minutes on one of the worst teams in the league, finishing second among Kloten defensemen with a goal and 11 points in 35 games with a -15 rating. It was a downturn in production compared to last season from the Austrian defender, although it’s excusable given the state of Kloten, which cycled through multiple head coaches and posted a -69 goal differential in 56 games. Once one of the best teams in the country before the turn of the century, Kloten was relegated to the second-tier Swiss League in 2018 before gaining promotion back to the NL in 2022.

The right-shot blueliner inked a lucrative three-year entry-level contract which could pay him up to $6.35M shortly after last summer’s draft, but his European Assignment Clause meant he needed to return to his Swiss club after not making the Montreal roster out of training camp. However, by all accounts, that was the plan as early as draft day. If Reinbacher doesn’t get a recall to the Canadiens and remains under 10 NHL games played on the season, his ELC will not go into effect this year and will slide to 2024-25. If that occurs, he will be an RFA in 2027.

Laval is in a fight for a playoff berth in the North Division, trailing the Toronto Marlies by three points with two more games played for the final berth. The Canadiens hope Reinbacher can slot into a defense that’s allowed a division-worst 209 goals this year and play major minutes during their 12 remaining regular-season games in preparation for a battle for a roster spot during next season’s training camp.