Montreal Canadiens bring back former defenseman following tragic injury to top prospect David Reinbacher
The Montreal Canadiens lost one of their top prospects to an injury in the pre-season, and now Gustav Lindstrom is back in the organization as a depth move.
This pre-season was a disaster for the Montreal Canadiens, as they not only lost Patrik Laine who they acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets, for a number of months due to injury, but the team saw prospect David Reinbacher who was the fifth overall pick in the 2023 NHL entry draft go down with a brutal knee injury as well. This causes a major change to their hopes for the 2024/25, as the team were optimistic about a potential Stanley Cup Playoff push, despite still being in the midst of a rebuild.
While it appears they'll look to replace Patrik Laine from within, they have now made a move to replace Reinbacher, as it has now been announced that Kent Hughes is signing Gustav Lindstrom, a defenseman that played with the team a season ago.
At 28-years of age, Lindstrom is a former second-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, who played in 14 games with the Canadiens a year ago, tallying 3 goals and 4 points, also suiting up for 4 games with the Laval Rocket before he ultimately ended the season with the Anaheim Ducks. Without Reinbacher on the blue line, the team will rely even more on the likes of David Savard and Justin Barron, but with Lindstrom in the organization once more, they've got increased depth and protection for their young stars.
Lindstrom's best season in the NHL came with Detroit back in the 2021/22 campaign where he tallied 1 goal and 14 points, but after a combined 10 points in 46 games a year ago, he's flashed the potential of being a bottom-four defenseman in the NHL. It's unclear whether he'll get that opportunity in Montreal unless an injury strikes, but for now it was a great move for the team as they look to push out of this rebuild and potentially back into Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
