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Canadiens Prospect Highlights

NCAA Frozen Four Schedule And Impact On Canadiens Prospects

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1 month ago

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Montreal Canadiens goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler

With the NHL season winding down, Montreal Canadiens fans have turned their attention to the key prospects who are expected to make a significant impact on the lineup once they’re ready to join the team.

The upcoming NCAA Frozen Four tournament will feature some of the most important Habs prospects playing on one of the biggest stages in hockey.

This means it’s time to take a closer look at when they are scheduled to play, and the impact it will have on their eventual ascension to the NHL.

Montreal Canadiens Prospects Involved

The Canadiens will have six players involved in the tournament:

Lane Hutson (Boston University), Luke Tuch (Boston University), Sam Harris (University Of Denver), Rhett Pitlick (University of Minnesota), Luke Mittelstadt (University of Minnesota), and Jacob Fowler (Boston College).

This leaves just a few Habs prospects who play on NCAA teams that did not qualify for the tournament: Emmett Croteau (Clarkson), Jack Smith (University of Minnesota-Duluth), and Blake Biondi (University of Minnesota-Duluth).

NCAA Team Rankings

Three of the prospects involved play on powerhouse teams.

Boston College (Fowler) is currently the top-ranked team in the NCAA, whereas Boston University (Hutson, Tuch) is ranked second.

The University of Denver (Harris) is also considered a strong contender as they are ranked third.

As for the University of Minnesota (Pitlick, Mittelstadt), they’re not as highly ranked as other teams featuring Habs prospects, but they’re still among the top teams in the league, as evidenced by their seventh overall ranking.

NCAA Frozen Four Schedule – First Round

The first round of the tournament gets underway on March 28th and lasts until the 29th. The schedule for Canadiens prospects in the first round is as follows:

The University of Denver (Harris) will play the University of Massachusetts (UMass) at 2 pm ET on Thursday, March 28th.

The Boston University Terriers (Hutson, Tuch) will face the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) at 5 pm ET on Thursday, March 28th.

The University of Minnesota (Pitlick, Mittelstadt) will take on Omaha at 8:30 pm ET on Thursday, March 28th.

And finally, the Boston College Eagles (Fowler) will face Michigan Tech at 2 pm ET on Friday, March 29th.

Implication / Rules

The first round is a single-game elimination format.

The second round of the playoffs will take place immediately once the first round is over, with the games scheduled for March 30th and March 31st.

The teams will then get a break before returning to action on April 11th for the semifinals, and the National Championship, which takes place on April 13th.

With that in mind, if Boston University loses to RIT on Friday, both Hutson and Tuch will be available to sign their entry-level contracts with the Montreal Canadiens.

If Hutson signs, don’t expect him to join the team’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, as he will have signed his ELC too late to participate in the Calder Cup playoffs.

The most likely scenario would see him join the Habs and participate in a few games toward the end of the season once the coaching staff thinks he’s ready to make his NHL debut.

On that note, it would be very surprising to see the Terriers bounced from the first round. Despite losing to Boston College recently, BU is still one of the most talented teams in the NCAA, and they’re poised for a healthy run in the playoffs.

But given the results this season, they’ll be hard-pressed to beat the Boston College Eagles in later rounds. They’re simply too talented, not to mention they play as a cohesive unit.

And on the rare occasions Boston College does not dominate the flow of a game, their netminder, Fowler, is there to save the day.

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