New major details are surfacing about the draft and David Reinbacher that change everything
On June 28th, the Montreal Canadiens caused consternation among their fans when the name of David Reinbacher was called as the 5th overall pick in the draft.
Although the Austrian defenseman will undoubtedly become a good hockey player, the vast majority of fans were fervently hoping to hear the name of the Russian phenomenon Matvei Michkov instead.
In the event that the Canadiens did not want to acquire the electrifying KHL forward, public opinion hoped to see a trade happen to capitalize on the high pick's value and receive a substantial offer.
Moreover, in connection with Reinbacher's selection at the 5th spot, we have just learned some very interesting new details that completely change the interpretation of what actually transpired during the first round of the draft.
According to a source from TVA Sports who was close to the action on the draft floor, when the Habs selected Reinbacher with the fifth pick, it disrupted the plans of several NHL teams.
"The Arizona Coyotes had Dmitry Simashev on their radar at the sixth spot, but their guy was David Reinbacher," confirmed the source, who preferred to remain anonymous. "Then, at the seventh spot, the Flyers picked Russian Matvei Michkov. I can't tell you if they preferred Reinbacher over Michkov, but I know the Flyers really liked Reinbacher."
The same seems to be true for the Washington Capitals, who opted for American forward Ryan Leonard. Apparently, Reinbacher was their Plan A.
"An employee from the Caps had told me they would take Reinbacher."
The same source confirmed a rumor that Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz had tried to make a big move to acquire the Canadiens' 5th overall pick. The speculation was that Trotz was trying to move up to select Michkov, but according to the source, it was actually to get Reinbacher.
"It was for David Reinbacher that the Predators wanted to move up."
It seems that the NHL teams' interest in the new Canadiens defenseman differed greatly from what the public opinion believed.
While, in my humble opinion, I still think the Canadiens should have capitalized on the 5th pick's value to get a substantial offer and trade down if they didn't want to select Michkov, we can now better understand why the CH jumped at the opportunity to pick Reinbacher so early.
Martin Lapointe stated after the selection that the scouts unanimously supported this choice. According to what TVA Sports revealed, even Martin St-Louis spoke with great enthusiasm about the defenseman's game, as he had watched several games of the top prospects in this draft class.
Now, we can only hope that the Canadiens made the right decision with this pick.
| POLL |
19 JUILLET | 83 ANSWERS New major details are surfacing about the draft and David Reinbacher that change everything In hindsight, what is your impression of the selection of David Reinbacher at the 5th overall pick? |
| Very satisfied | 36 | 43.4 % |
| Satisfied | 28 | 33.7 % |
| Not satisfied | 19 | 22.9 % |
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