Mittelstadt: The Canadian may already be outperforming Engstrom and Reinbacher in Laval

The Canadiens have just won three of their last four games, all of which were decided by a single goal. Montreal sits in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, just one point out of a playoff spot, but also just one point above last place in the division.

Jacob Fowler has won his last three starts, while Jakub Dobes has lost his last three.

I'm eager to see how Marco Marciano and Martin St-Louis decide to use their goaltenders this week.

The Habs will play three games: Tuesday at the Bell Centre against the Sharks, Friday in Chicago, and Sunday in Winnipeg (Heritage Classic). If I were the Canadiens, I'd give Tuesday's and Sunday's starts to Fowler, and Friday's to Dobes.

Why? Because I'd want to spare Dobes the Bell Centre circus right now: imagine if he has a fourth straight poor start. Montreal fans might get impatient, and Dobes would only sink deeper into a slump. Whereas in Chicago on Friday, against the worst team in the Central Division, the risk is much lower.

As for Sunday's game, the guy who deserves this “gift” more is Jacob Fowler, not Jakub Dobes.

Who is Adam Engstrom?

I was watching David Reinbacher on Saturday night and thought to myself that he wasn't (yet?) ready to play in the NHL. He had a very good training camp and has been excellent since the start of the season in Laval, but on Saturday, he struggled to keep up with the pace of the NHL.

He finished the game with just nine minutes of ice time and a -1 plus/minus rating. And he was the one responsible for that -1. With the puck—and with less time and space than in the AHL—Reinbacher looked nervous.

When people say you're a solid defensive defenseman and a stabilizing presence, you have to be as reliable as possible without the puck.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Reinbacher just yet, but I think we'll need to be patient a little longer.

However, I can't say that Reinbacher was much worse than Adam Engstrom, who had played the previous four games. The tall Swede isn't bad, but I struggle to identify a primary—or even dominant—strength in his game. Because every player who manages to establish himself as a regular defenseman in the NHL excels in at least one aspect of the game.

Yet Engstrom isn't physical, he isn't spectacular, he isn't a defensive sure thing, and he doesn't have a slap shot like Shea Weber's. Maxim Lapierre admitted a few days ago that he doesn't understand what the Canadiens see in Engstrom; I agree with him.

All of this to bring the discussion around to Luke Mittelstadt…

The American defenseman—selected in the seventh round—is tearing up the American Hockey League. As of this morning, he leads the league in scoring with 13 points in just six games. He also has a +4 plus/minus rating.

You can tell right away, even though he has only 20 games of AHL experience: his greatest strength is his offense.

Plus, he's 5'11” and weighs 187 pounds. He's not that small, especially since he put on about ten pounds of muscle over the summer.

I think Martin St-Louis and Stéphane Robidas will give Reinbacher and Engstrom another chance or two, but if things don't work out as they should—and Mittelstadt continues to dominate down low—he'll be called up sooner rather than later.

Hutson, Dobson, Xhekaj, Carrier, and Guhle are the five regular defensemen in Matheson's absence.

I don't see how Mittelstadt couldn't step in to replace Reinbacher or Engstrom as the seventh defenseman who gets into the lineup every other game or every third game. Especially while Matheson is sidelined…

Who knows? Maybe Mittelstadt would establish himself as a Mike Matheson-style defenseman…

At worst, Kent Hughes would have one more asset to trade on the market in his never-ending search for a true second-line center.