One week ago, the Montreal Canadiens opened up training camp, with players arriving at the team's practice facility in Brossard, Quebec for medicals, before taking to the ice the next day, and since then there's been quite a lot to talk about.
The Canadiens picked up two wins last Saturday in split squad games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and while statistics & standings don't matter until September 29th, Martin St. Louis' group remained undefeated after beating the Ottawa Senators in Monday's Kraft Hockeyville game in Trois-Rivières.
There's going to be some big decisions that St. Louis and General Manager Kent Hughes will need to make over the next six days and a pair of rookies, Florian Xhekaj and David Reinbacher, are certainly giving them a lot to think about.
Florian Xhekaj & David Reinbacher Impressing at Canadiens Training Camp
David Reinbacher
When the Montreal Canadiens selected Austrian defenseman David Reinbacher and passed over on Matvei Michkov, there was a good chunk of the fan base that wasn't too happy with that decision and to be fair, given the blueliner's injury history in recent years, those feelings were starting to become a bit valid.
To give Reinbacher the benefit of the doubt, he's young, he's still learning and injury-wise, there's not a ton that he could've done to prevent what he had gone through. Thankfully for the Canadiens, Reinbacher was able to play the majority of the 2025-26 season, suiting up in 57 games for the Laval Rocket, as well as a pair of games towards the end of the campaign in the NHL with Montreal.
Reinbacher came to training camp highly motivated to grab a spot on Montreal's opening night roster. The Canadiens do have a bit of a logjam on the blue line entering the season, with Reinbacher among three or four players vying for a spot in the lineup, but with Kaiden Guhle set to miss at least the first two-to-three weeks of the regular season, there's an even greater chance the 21-year-old begins the year in Montreal.
The Hohenems, Austria native has looked really good in two games so far in the preseason and on Monday night, he played on a pairing with Lane Hutson, the latter of whom had kind words for his teammate post-game.
"He looked good. He’s easy to read off of, he killed a lot of plays. I thought he looked great. It was fun to watch him." Hutson said to reporters after Monday's win.
Hutson isn't the only one to recognize how hard Reinbacher has been working in training camp thus far as in an interview with Ron MacLean on Monday night Montreal Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes had some praise for the organization's top defensive prospect.
"David's had, obviously the first two years were marred by injuries, but his camp so far has been great. When I say 'camp', a lot of our guys are back early and skating and some of our players were calling saying he looks great. It's carried through the first practices and games, so far." Hughes said.
We'll wait and see what comes this weekend when Reinbacher suits up in one of Montreal's split squad games against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, but at this point, I'd be shocked if he wasn't on the opening night roster, which has to be submitted to the National Hockey League by 5 pm ET on Monday, September 28th.
Florian Xhekaj
Another player that has impressed the fan base so far in training camp is Florian Xhekaj, younger brother of Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj. Florian was selected in the fourth round, 101st overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and after two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, he made the jump to professional hockey.
For the last couple of seasons, Xhekaj has suited up for the American Hockey League's Laval Rocket where he's amassed 64 points and a whopping 357 penalty minutes in 133 games. He got his first taste of the National Hockey League during the 2025-26 campaign, appearing in five games for Montreal. In his NHL debut, the 22-year-old picked up an assist and fought Maple Leafs defenseman Dakota Mermis.
The Hamilton, Ontario native, much like David Reinbacher, came into this season's training camp trying to impress the Canadiens' coaching staff and put himself in contention for a spot on the opening night roster. During last Saturday's 4-1 win in Toronto, Xhekaj played pretty well while on a line with Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson.
Xhekaj registered an assist on Danault's empty net goal late in the third period and took on Maple Leafs blueliner Marshall Rifai in what might be the best fight of his professional career thus far.
RIFAI AND F. XHEKAJ DROP THE GLOVES 🥊 pic.twitter.com/zGCJsCdXSx
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 20, 2026
Throughout his two preseason appearances, Xhekaj has shown a level of competitiveness that every team would love from their players. He's worked extremely hard in camp, doesn't give up on plays, finishes his checks, can contribute offensively and as we've seen time and time again, he's not afraid to drop the mitts. Florian Xhekaj is a perfect bottom-six player for the Montreal Canadiens and based on how he's played so far, I feel like he's earned himself a spot on the opening night roster next week.
After Tuesday's off-day, the Canadiens returned to the ice in Brossard earlier today, with Martin St. Louis going from three group to just two. Team A featured all of Montreal's NHLers as well as players still competing for a spot on the opening night roster, while Team B consisted of everyone who is Laval-bound in the days ahead.
For Florian Xhekaj and David Reinbacher, along with Owen Beck and Adam Engstrom, they were all included in Team A as they continue their push to start the season in the National Hockey League. It's unclear what the rosters will look like for Saturday's split squad games, but all four players will be given ample opportunity to prove themselves one final time before the regular season begins in Toronto next Tuesday.