David Reinbacher’s second season as a prospect of the Canadiens has been derailed before it even began. The team announced Tuesday that the blueliner has undergone knee surgery that will sideline him for five to six months.
The injury occurred on the opening shift of Saturday’s game following a hit from Marshall Rifai. While it wasn’t a hard collision, Reinbacher appeared to stumble. He attempted to continue to play but couldn’t put much weight on it and quickly left the ice, obviously not returning to the game.
Reinbacher, the fifth pick in 2022, was set to play his first full professional season in North America after spending most of last year in Switzerland where he had 11 points in 35 games with Kloten. He did get into 11 games with Laval at the end of the season, picking up five points but was shut down due to injury late in the year.
Now, he won’t be able to play until likely March at the earliest. At that point, it’s quite likely that he’ll go to Laval to at least work his way back into playing shape. Reinbacher can play up to nine games with Montreal without officially burning the first year of his entry-level deal this season so he’s a candidate to still potentially suit up for the Habs late in the year.
Because Reinbacher didn’t see any NHL time last year, there’s no cap charge for him opening the year on season-opening injured reserve. However, he will still count against Montreal’s 50-contract limit.
In other early news Tuesday, the Habs announced that they’ve recalled Lucas Condotta and Luke Tuch from Laval. That doesn’t mean they’re back in contention to make the team but rather that they’ve opted to play them in at least one of their two remaining preseason games (they’re in tonight’s lineup), allowing them to rest a couple of regulars.