The Montreal Canadiens sent David Reinbacher to the Laval Rocket on Sunday afternoon, and he had plenty of company in a 10-player cut.
Jacob Fowler, Owen Beck, Filip Mesar, Luke Mittelstadt and Owen Protz are headed down the highway too. So are Bentley, Dauphin, Jared Davidson and Tyler Thorpe.
The timing says plenty. This came less than 24 hours after Montreal split a Saturday doubleheader against Ottawa, winning 4-2 at home and dropping a 4-3 decision on the road.
Reinbacher logged 19:09 in the road loss and finished without a shot on goal. Busy night. Not much to show for it.
So what does a young defenseman do in a crowded room? He forces the issue, and Saturday didn't qualify.
Adam Engstrom played 23:54 in that same road game, and Jayden Struble went plus-3. Neither name showed up on Sunday's list.
Then there's the money on the blue line. Noah Dobson carries a $9,500,000 cap hit, eighth-highest among NHL defensemen, and he scored on the power play in the home win.
Samuel Montembeault's clean night leaves no room in the crease
Fowler was sharp enough Saturday, turning aside 16 of 18 shots across 30:43 of work at home. He didn't get the decision.
Samuel Montembeault did, and he didn't allow a thing, stopping all 14 shots he faced. Jakub Dobes took the loss in Ottawa, and Kaapo Kahkonen dressed without seeing the ice.
Three goalies left standing. One young one sent off to actually play. That's the right call, and it isn't close.
Keeping Fowler up as the odd man out would be like buying a sports car and leaving it in the garage to protect the tires.
Laval gets him real starts. Montreal gets a more polished goalie down the road.
The Mittelstadt cut stings a little more. He played 20:07 in the home win with three shots on goal, the kind of line that usually buys another look.
Protz didn't make the same push. He skated 15:21 in Ottawa and never registered a shot.
Owen Beck played 13:02 at home without landing a shot on goal. Thorpe picked up seven penalty minutes in that same game, which is one way to get noticed.
Mesar and Bentley barely left the bench in the road loss. Mesar played 8:01, and Bentley checked in at 7:51.
Sasha Pastujov and Brett Berard both scored in Ottawa and both stayed off Sunday's list. Pastujov added an assist for good measure.
Next up is Tuesday night in Toronto. The real question for Martin St-Louis and Kent Hughes is whether Reinbacher's next call comes in October, or a lot later than anyone in Montreal expected.
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Should the Canadiens have kept David Reinbacher over Arber Xhekaj or Jayden Struble?
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