Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price forgets name of No. 5 overall pick in NHL Draft
Carey Price is known for one thing: stopping pucks for the Montreal Canadiens. He is not, however, known for his public speaking abilities. That much we learned Wednesday during Round 1 of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Holding the No. 5 selection in the Draft, the Canadiens sent Price, their star netminder, to the stage to announce the pick. Unfortunately for Price, he suffered a brain fart at the most inopportune time.
“The Canadiens de Montreal are proud to select David,” said Price before giving a blank stare for a few moments and asking for help from the Canadiens’ brass.
Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes intervened in a tough spot, announcing the fifth overall selection as EHC Kloten defenseman David Reinbacher.
Reinbacher became the first defenseman off the board and the highest-drafted Austrian since Thomas Vanek went fifth overall in 2003. The 18-year-old has spent the last two seasons playing professionally in Switzerland. In 73 games across both seasons, he was a +23, scoring four goals and putting up 33 points. He represented Team Austria at the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, logging over 26 minutes a game.
Canadiens grab best defensive prospect in David Reinbacher
Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet offered an analysis of Reinbacher’s game leading up to the Draft.
“It’s not often an 18-year-old player, let alone a defenseman, is relied upon to play in every situation in a top men’s league. Reinbacher was all of that for Kloten in the NLA, or the Swiss National League,” Cosentino wrote. “His 22 points are the most by a draft eligible defenseman in league history and rank second to Auston Matthews’ 46 points as the most for any draft eligible skater in league history.
“There were two occasions where scouts wanted to hunker down on Reinbacher. The first was the world juniors, where it was expected he would be one of the best defencemen in the tournament. Unfortunately, he was ill and not at 100 percent which forced him to miss a couple of games. Then, the Austrians leaned on him so much when he was healthy that it limited his effectiveness. The other point of interest was the men’s worlds, where he was limited to four games.
“Unfortunately, Reinbacher suffered a knee injury there and his body of work playing on the big stage was limited. Based on a complete recovery, Reinbacher will become the highest drafted Austrian-born defenseman. And may just challenge Thomas Vanek as the highest Austrian ever drafted.”
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