During this Canadiens rebuilding process, it can be easy for fans to sometimes forget just how young some of the team’s top prospects are.
It can also be hard to understand the pressure young players are under in the bright Montreal hockey spotlight.
Juraj Slafkovsky made the jump directly to the NHL at age 18 after being the No. 1 overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft. It wasn’t easy and the Slovakian winger often looked lost on the ice as a rookie, posting 4-6-10 totals in 39 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Slafkovsky also had a rough start last season before finding his game and finishing with 20-30-50 totals while playing in all 82 games.
David Reinbacher has already experienced the pressure from Montreal fans without playing a single game in the NHL. There were fans who weren’t happy with the Canadiens’ decision to select the Austrian defenceman with the No. 5 overall pick at the 2023 NHL Draft instead of Russian forward Matvei Michkov and let Reinbacher know on social media.
One Canadiens fan, Patricia Néron, was so upset at the vitriol directed at Reinbacher that she took to Twitter (now X) asking fans to share some positive messages for the defenceman. Néron received more than 200 comments within 24 hours, put those messages in a scrapbook and presented it to Reinbacher at last year’s development camp.
“I wanted to give visibility to the good Habs fans and show that we’re not all like that,” Néron said at the time.
Reinbacher is now attending his second Canadiens training camp and is coming off a rough season with Kloten HC in the Swiss National League, posting 1-10-11 totals in 35 games to go along with a minus-15 rating. He was in the Canadiens’ lineup — partnered with veteran Mike Matheson — for Tuesday night’s 3-0 pre-season win over the New Jersey Devils at the Bell Centre and had a solid game, logging 19:39 of ice time.
After Tuesday’s morning skate in Brossard, I asked Slafkovsky what’s the best advice he could give Reinbacher.
“I would say be confident because I don’t think I was confident enough when I came here,” the 20-year-old Slafkovsky said. “It wasn’t good. Just be more confident than I was and just trust yourself. Make those plays you did on the European ice even though it’s smaller here.
“He’s a good player already,” Slafkovsky added, “Just be confident and play your game.”
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis was never selected at the NHL Draft, so he faced a different type of pressure at training camps before finally breaking into the NHL with the Calgary Flames at age 23.
What’s his best advice for Reinbacher?
“I would tell him to focus on himself and not compare himself to anybody,” St. Louis said after Tuesday’s game. “Comparison is a thief of joy.”
Mark that one down as one of St. Louis’s best lines — even though he borrowed it from former U.S president Theodore Roosevelt.
“For me, it’s just to keep working on himself,” St. Louis added about Reinbacher. “I’m sure he probably wants to play in the NHL as fast as he can, but there’s a process to get there and everybody gets there at their own pace and I think we’ve done a pretty good job with some of these young guys and I’m confident that we’re going to execute the same thing with him.”
While Reinbacher had a rude welcome into Montreal’s hockey spotlight last year, he has learned how to handle the outside noise.
“Easy,” he said about tuning out social media. “Not looking into it. Just delete all those apps. … Just try to focus on my day, what I can influence.”
Smart move.
Defenceman Logan Mailloux was thrust into the bright Montreal spotlight after the Canadiens’ controversial decision to select him in the first round (31st overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft. Mailloux, 21, spent last season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket and in hindsight said it was the best thing for his development.
“I went there and I had a slow start,” said Mailloux, who ended up with 14-33-47 totals in 72 games with the Rocket. “But I was being put in all situations, playing a ton of minutes and playing some tough hockey down there. We had ups and downs as a team and me, personally. I think it kind of helped me learn to go through a whole pro season, day in, day out.”
Mailloux made his NHL debut in the Canadiens’ final game last season and has a very good chance of making the team this year. Reinbacher is probably headed to Laval.
That’s the smart move.
“It’s a process,” Reinbacher said. “I’m still 19. I’m turning 20 in October. So there’s still a lot of time. It’s just go in every day and get better and if it’s Laval, it’s Laval. (Canadiens management) have a plan and just try to focus on myself each and every day and not focusing on what’s tomorrow or if I make the team.”