Habs Prospects
Habs Prospect – Mooney Impressive Youth Hockey Highlights
It’s always a good sign when a player picked outside the first round evokes excitement among scouts, and that’s exactly what happened when the Montreal Canadiens picked forward L.J. Mooney with the 113th overall pick at the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
On top of maintaining a point-per-game pace last season with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USNTDP), Mooney stole the show at development camp, flashing moments of absolute brilliance that put his fantastic hand-eye coordination on full display.
ON TOPIC: Mooney Stands Out At Montreal Canadiens Development Camp
Of course, we can’t discuss Mooney’s talent without also mentioning that he stands at just 5’7″, however, we’d also be delving into intellectual dishonest if we ignored his borderline elite skill set.
Mooney, who happens to be Logan Cooley’s cousin, rarely hits the ice without ensuring fans receive good value for their hard-earned money, as evidenced by the number of jaws that hit the floor at Montreal’s development camp. Performing well in scrimmages is obviously different from playing against professional opponents, but suffice it to say it was quite clear that Mooney would have been a first-round pick if he had enjoyed a growth spurt prior to his draft year.
L.J. Mooney électrisant à Brossard 🤩⚡️ pic.twitter.com/GAF8JXAuMj
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) July 2, 2025
It wasn’t the first time that Mooney had impressed with his moves. Thanks to IC Hockey, we have an opportunity to view a few older clips that demonstrate Mooney’s impressive talent throughout the years.
Highlight videos are just that, cherry-picked plays made to highlight the talent of various players, but in this case, it also gives us insight as to Mooney’s development, which clearly put him in a class of his own from a very young age.
LJ Mooney – 113th pick overall by the Montreal Canadiens. We’ve been watching the LJ show for years 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/aT4LTT9zM4
— IC Hockey (@ICHockeypgh) July 3, 2025
Mooney, 18, is set to join the University of Minnesota in 2025-26, therefore we can expect him to spend next season in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) or the USHL (United States Hockey League), a situation that will give him an opportunity to continue to work on his impressive moves while also improving his even-strength play.
Hasn’t grown much since those videos. 😁
Miichael Hage and Owen Protz invited by Hockey Canada to the World Junior Summer Showcase, whatever that is!
Let’s talk about the elephant in the dressing room. Has anyone else wondered how the recent moves by management help us get grittier and playoff hockey ready and resilient? I’m not complaining, I’m just pointing it out to create awareness and get feedback.
And I’m a huge fan of Hughes, he “wins” at elite levels. His rebuild to competitiveness has been sensational.
Beyond the team, what is the common link between Hutson, Mooney and Zharovsky( first two forwards drafted in 2025) Carrier, Dobson, Hage, Laine and Bolduc? They are all well below league average in height and or weight or are not physical. Ton of skill, no question, but I read article after article during and after the Washington series about the lack of size and grit. Commenters were relentless in their critiques of the teams flaws, most noteable was size and grit.
So I ask the question, how does 163 pound Zharovsky or 5’7” Mooney or 187 pound Bolduc or 174 pound Carrier or 162 pound Hutson or non physical Dobson or Hage or Laine address this fatal flaw? Stretching back a bit further, moving Edmunson and Kovacevic seems at odds with the stated goals. So outside of bottom pairing defensemen or bottom 6 forwards, we have no elephants in the dressing room. Does anyone see a path to becoming the type of gritty physical team required to win in the playoffs?
An inch or two and 15-20 lbs of muscle would be really helpful !