Banks of hope: the Canadian seventh in the NHL (according to The Athletic)

In the last few days, Corey Pronman (The Athletic) has been busy ranking the best prospects benches in the NHL. Obviously, we were keen to see where the CH would be located, which depends on the youngsters for the rest of the things.

Please note that it takes into account all youth age 22 and under. That includes guys who are already in the NHL.

And the bottom line is that the Canadiens’ youth bench looks pretty good compared to the others, as Montreal is ranked seventh in the entire NHL at the moment in their rankings. The CH is behind the Sabers, Wings, Devils, Ducks, Sens, and Hurricanes.

Note that last year, the Canadian was ranked 12th.

The fact that CH got an A+ from Pronman in the repechage partly explains the increase since, despite Nick Suzuki’s departure from the ranking, CH went up.

The additions of the first four picks of 2022 (Juraj Slafkovsky, Filip Mesar Owen Beck and Lane Hutson) have helped, but that also includes the arrival of 21-year-old Kirby Dach.

It is interesting to note the order in which the analyst ranked the prospects. Why? Because there are surprises. Some players did not break into Pronman’s top-15 and settled for honorable mentions at the end of the text.

Here it is, before continuing, his top-15.

1. Juraj Slavkovsky
2. cole caufield
3. kirby race
4. Kaiden Guhle
5. justin barron
6. Hutson Lane
7. Joshua Roy
8. Philip Mesar
9. Michael Tourigny
10. Jan Misak
11. jordan harris
12. owen beck
13. Mattias Norlinder
14. riley kidney
15. Sean Farrell

First, we note that Logan Mailloux and Jesse Ylonen are not in the journalist’s top-15. The contractual uncertainty of the former and the inconstancy of the latter are factors that have been taken into account.

It also shows the depth of the club’s prospect pool.

When we look at the club’s top 5, we see five guys who should play for the Canadiens this year. Slafkovsky, Caufield and Dach should even be among the top scorers in CH with Nick Suzuki being too old for this ranking.

Yes, the CH will bet on its young people.

Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron, who round out the top 5, should also be entitled to big minutes in the NHL and the same goes for Jordan Harris, ranked a little lower. Jan Mysak and Mattias Norlinder will also be in the mix.

I noted the fact that Lane Hutson was ranked ahead of Mesar and Beck and Joshua Roy ran into each other in seventh place. Offensive advantage is clearly important to Pronman as Mesar is more of a responsible guy with the puck.

I didn’t expect to see Miguel Tourigny ninth in the standings, who is fourth among the 2022 draft hopefuls. The good news? Pronman sees in him a bright, dynamic prospect on the ice who can play in the NHL. That said, its size works against it.

For a complete analysis, I again invite you to read what Pronman had to say about each prospect. I also invite you to follow what my colleague Tony Patoine says in his ranking of the 12 best hopes of the CH… and my little finger tells me that a new text is fresh in the oven.

A lot of

“I hope we can shed some light on this.

– Rightly so.

– Six wins in seven games, that gives you a club.

– What a feat!

– Could the owner of Capitales buy the Nationals?