Habs sign David Reinbacher to an entry-level contract
Another day, another signing for the Canadiens. This time, it’s their top draft pick putting pen to paper as the team announced that David Reinbacher has signed a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal carries a cap hit of $950,000 and an AAV (including all bonuses) of $2.117 million. It breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $855,000 salary, $95,000 signing bonuses, $82,500 AHL salary, $1 million ‘A’ bonuses
2024-25: $855,000 salary, $95,000 signing bonuses, $82,500 AHL salary, $1 million ‘A’ bonuses
2025-26: $855,000 salary, $95,000 signing bonuses, $82,500 AHL salary, $1 million ‘A’ bonuses, $500,000 ‘B’ bonuses
For the ‘A’ bonuses, Reinbacher would receive $250,000 for up to four of the following:
- Top four in ice time among defencemen (total and/or per game) on the team (minimum 42 games)
- 10 goals
- 25 assists
- 35 points
- 0.49 points per game (minimum 42 games)
- Top three in +/- among defencemen on the team (minimum 42 games)
- Top two among defencemen in blocked shots (minimum 42 games)
- End-of-season All-Rookie Team
- Selected to NHL All-Star Game
- NHL All-Star MVP
‘B’ bonuses, meanwhile, aren’t exactly as well-defined but they are typically very difficult to get. At this point, it’d be fair to classify that one as unlikely to be reached.
Notably, this contract contains a European Assignment Clause for the next two seasons, providing the potential option for Reinbacher to remain in the Swiss League. However, Montreal does hold the final decision on where he’ll play next season. As he wasn’t selected out of the CHL, he is eligible to play in Laval.
Reinbacher was the fifth-overall selection in the draft last week and the first defenceman off the board. He tied former Hab Thomas Vanek as the highest-drafted Austrian player in NHL history.
Last season, the 18-year-old played with Kloten in Switzerland’s top division and quickly went from a role player to a regular on their top pairing. Reinbacher picked up 22 points in 46 regular season games while also suiting up for Austria at both the World Juniors and the World Championship.
Widely perceived as someone that could step into an NHL lineup now, Montreal’s defensive depth should be strong enough that they don’t need to do so. While they might prefer him to be in Laval where they can control his playing time, Reinbacher has indicated that he’d like to go back overseas for 2023-24 to allow him to finish his final year of school. It’d be a bit surprising if that ultimately wasn’t the course of action that they go with him.
As long as Reinbacher doesn’t play in more than ten NHL games next season, his contract will be eligible to slide a year and still have three years remaining on it in 2024. If that happens, the cap hit and the AAV of the deal will decrease slightly.