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Montreal Canadiens

Midseason Montreal Canadiens Prospect Rankings

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Montreal Canadiens scouts

The Montreal Canadiens have seen a significant amount of their prospects graduate to the NHL this year, meaning it’s time for a new Canadiens Prospect Rankings.

The Canadiens currently have rookies Jordan Harris, Juraj Slafkovsky, Arber Xhekaj and Kaiden Guhle that have made the jump to the NHL and are thus no-longer considered prospects, despite their young age.

It’s opened the door for a wide-open battle between the rest of the Canadiens’ prospects for supremacy atop the prospects rankings within the organization.

Perhaps the best story so far has been the utter domination of Lane Hutson in the NCAA. As of right now, it would be hard to argue against having him as the most promising Canadiens prospect so far.

The 18-year-old defenceman has accumulated seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in just 16 games; which constitutes the best points-per-game average for a defenceman in the entire NCAA.

Then there’s Owen Beck who, albeit not making Team Canada’s roster for the World Junior Championships, remains one of the most complete players in all of major junior right now. Posting 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points in just 27 games, Beck has quickly become an elite offensive force for the Mississauga Steelheads, while being one of the best defensive forwards in the OHL.

Following them closely is Justin Barron, who, despite the disappointment of being sent down to the AHL out of training camp, has been having a stellar season for the Laval Rocket. The 21-year-old has been their defacto No. 1 defenceman for a while now and is their unquestioned leader on the backend when it comes to transition and generating offence.

Barron’s notable improvement this season has cemented his positioning within the top-3 of the Canadiens’ prospect list.

Another player turning heads of late is Logan Mailloux. He possesses a lot of the tools necessary to be a top defender in the NHL, but the lack of playing time over the last two seasons has inhibited him from developing his game at the same pace as his peers.

Nonetheless, 10 goals in 24 games for a defenceman is nothing to sneeze at in the OHL. From a pure potential standpoint, Mailloux is likely a top-5 prospect, but some more viewings and some much-needed mileage will be necessary to begin to see clearly as to where he’s headed.

But make no mistake, he remains a very legitimate prospect and his ranking at 7th overall is more a testament to the depth of the Canadiens’ prospect pool, and no slight on him.

Below are the full Midseason Canadiens Prospects Rankings. Let us know what you think.

RankPlayerPosition
1Lane HutsonDefence
2Sean FarrellWinger
3Owen BeckCentre
4Joshua RoyWinger
5Logan MaillouxDefence
6Riley KidneyCentre
7Filip MesarCentre/Right Wing
8Adam EngstromDefence
9Jakub DobesGoaltender
10Oliver KapanenCentre
11Emil HeinemanWinger
12William TrudeauDefence
13Mattias NorlinderDefence
14Jayden StrubleDefence
20Jan MysakCentre
16Cedrick GuindonCentre
17Xavier SimoneauWinger
18Vinzenz RohrerCentre
19Jared DavidsonCentre
20Frederik DichowGoalie