NASHVILLE | Kent Hughes described David Reinbacher as a diamond in the rough. The Canadian relied on the Austrian defender with his fifth pick overall. While some fans spoke of a surprise, that was not the case on the Bridgestone Arena floor.
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“He was the player we wanted to sign at this rank,” said Martin Lapointe. On our list, the most popular choice was Reinbacher, ahead of Matvei Michkov. But when we looked at Reinbacher, we found that he ticked all the boxes: fast, mobile, smart, tough, characterful and a good person.”
Lapointe, the head of amateur recruitment, expressed that confidence as he exited the podium in the media room.
The former Detroit Red Wings winger knew the right-hander choice wasn’t a favorite for the vast majority of fans. But at the CH table, Hughes, Jeff Gorton, Nick Bobrov, Lapointe and the other recruiters were all under the spell of Reinbacher.
The Habs also ignored popular pressure in the 2022 draft in Montreal, picking Juraj Slafkovsky as top of the class in place of Shane Wright, who eventually slipped to fourth place with the Seattle Kraken.
Reinbacher will determine his own future. If he becomes a defenseman like Moritz Seider, the Detroit Red Wings’ sixth overall pick of 2019, he will silence his critics. And if he were to follow in Roman Josi’s footsteps with the Nashville Predators by magic, the CH would have won his bet with him.
no secret
Sitting alongside Lapointe on the podium, Bobrov also defended the choice of a defender instead of a forward in the fifth row.
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“It’s no secret, we all know there are players who are still hard to win,” noted Bobrov, the co-director of amateur recruitment. We saw the series. For two months you become even more aware of what it takes to win. We believe David falls into this category of players. Every year, teams look to improve their fortunes in the draft to win over these types of defenders.
“We think he was the right player for us at that rank (5th),” he continued. We want to build a culture that fits our philosophy.”