Top Prospects: The NHL System Rankings

#6: Montreal Canadiens

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Number of Ranked Prospects: 42

Number of Forwards in the Top 50: 3

Number of Defensemen in the Top 50: 3

Average Rank of Top 10 Prospects in Pool: 48th

Top Forward Prospect in The System: Ivan Demidov (3rd)

Top Defenseman Prospect in The System: David Reinbacher (2nd)

System Score: 4.75

It is no secret that the most storied franchise in all of hockey--the Montreal Canadiens--has been struggling for relevancy for some time, the Covid run to the Western Conference [editor's note: ?!?] championship notwithstanding. From 2016 through 2021, the Canadiens drafted six players who have played more than 200 NHL games, but only one of those players--Cole Caufield--actually plays for Montreal. Players like 9th-overall pick Mikhail Sergachev, 25th-overall pick Ryan Poehling, 3rd-overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi and 38th-overall pick Alexander Romanov were all moved out via trade, with almost no Stanley Cup success to show for it (see again: Covid run). 

A new rebuild was launched with the hiring of General Manager Kent Hughes just before the NHL trade deadline in January 2022. Hughes immediately started moving aging veterans for young talent, and brought in NHL Hall-of-Famer Martin St. Louis to coach them. In his first draft (summer 2022), Hughes made the bold move to select the big Slovakian power forward Juraj Slafkovsky first overall. Although the transition for Slafkovsky has not been smooth, he has already played 148 NHL in the two-plus seasons since being drafted, with 26 goals and 49 assists. Despite the rocky start, Slafkovsky looks more and more at place in the NHL and he should be a key part of the Canadiens core as the rebuild continues around him.

The Top of The Pool:

Last summer, the Canadiens had the luxury of selecting a player at fifth overall that they likely never expected to see in that spot. Ivan Demidov, the dynamic Russian winger from the SKA St. Petersburg system, was ranked second overall by Hockey Prophets and most other of the major scouting pundits but fell to Montreal after Chicago, Anaheim and Columbus all went with other choices. After putting up the most productive MHL season by a under-19 player in the history of that league--his 2.00 points per game (60 points in 30 games) was better than Nikita Kucherov's 1.87 and Matvei Michkov's 1.82--Demidov is playing the current season at the KHL level and has thus far scored 6 goals and 14 assists in 33 games as a 19 year old.

Demidov plays hockey with flair and exuberance.  A gifted playmaker, he brings a dazzling array of puckhandling bravado and passing ability to every shift and he can create offense no matter where he is on the ice. Demidov skates with the easy agility of the best skaters in the draft class. His edgework gives him the kind of elusive maneuverability that can make even fast opponents look clumsy as he slips around them with the puck. His footwork is always impressive, but he also uses his feet to get into attacking position well before the puck reaches his stick. When the puck comes, he is already on the move, forcing defenders to anticipate instead of react, an aspect of his offense that often gives him an immediate advantage when he then does something completely unexpected. 

His vision and ice awareness may be the best of this draft class. Demidov regularly makes lightning, one-touch passes on target with proper weighting to find teammates with great scoring chances. He will exploit even the smallest of openings either by attacking with magic puckhandling, or fake a move and find any player on the ice that has a better offensive option. His passing prowess is bettered only by his decision making and ability to pick apart weakness in defensive structure. Demidov shoots the puck well, but typically his goals are a result of the work he has already done earlier on the shift with his passing and skating. 

His play in the defensive zone is generally okay and he shows high levels of activity and stickwork to defender lanes, but he tends at times to chase the puck instead of holding position and playing an aggressive defensive style. Given his sparkplug offensive role, his defensive game has never been a priority. However, his skating and game awareness will provide ample foundation for defensive improvement as he continues to develop.

Not only does Montreal have one of the absolute best forward prospects in the game, they also have one of the top blue-line prospects in David Reinbacher, the 6'2, 194-pound Austrian defender that the team drafted 5th overall in the 2023 draft (ranked 11th by Hockey Prophets in the 2023 draft). Reinbacher was the best defender in a draft class dominated by top-end offensive talent, and although some Habs fans were upset by the pick at the time, Reinbacher is the kind of defensive cornerstone that rebuilding teams must have as a foundation for a Cup challenging team. The key aspect of Reinbacher's overall play is his ultrahigh hockey intelligence. He has lightning fast recognition and mental processing on the ice which gives him an advantage in spacing, timing, and superior lines of defense against any attacking forward. He has the strength and positional awareness down low to keep the power forwards away from the net, and the footwork and quickness to seal off speedy forwards trying to skirt down the wings. He hits like a train and has an active poke check. There is essentially nothing in the defensive zone that the big Austrian blueliner does not do extremely well. In addition, Reinbacher has shown scoring ability at every level he has played thus far, using his right-handed slap shot from the point to put dangerous pucks on net, and his quality passing to get the puck into the hands of his more offensively gifted teammates. Unfortunately, Reinbacher is currently recovering from knee surgery to repair an injury suffered in the preseason, but he should be back before the end of the season to continue his development in Laval.

Montreal has another top blueliner in Lane Hutson, an NHL rookie who is a contender for the Calder Trophy this season and who is seeing his last appearance on the prospects list. Huston was drafted 62nd overall in 2022, falling much further in the draft than any player of his talent should have dropped (ranked 20th by Hockey Prophets) due only to the fact that he was just 5'8 at the time. Hutson has every tool an offensive defenseman needs--video-game skating, smart puck recovery, eyes-up scanning at all times, immense scoring drive and the hands to put it all together--but NHL general managers have been consistent in one thing over time and that is avoiding smaller players and thinking that size wins every time. Hutson (now listed as 5'10, 165 pounds) is and will continue to prove them wrong. He is currently tied for second in NHL rookie scoring with last season's first overall pick Macklin Celebrini and seeing nearly 23 minutes of ice time per game for the Canadiens. 

Michael Hage, currently ranked 22nd among forward prospects, plays hockey with energy, hard work and gifted puck skills. He was drafted 21st overall last summer after playing a 75-point season for the Chicago Steel in the USHL. The 6'1, 190-pound native of Oakville, Ontario plays great hockey by using his excellent ability to maintain puck possession even while under duress, and an seemingly unsatiable desire to generate offense. So far this season he has put up 10 goals and 8 assists in his first 15 games of freshman college hockey with the Michigan Wolverines and is leading that well-lauded team in scoring. 

Joshua Roy has continued to improve and develop as an all-around forward with scoring upside. He has 19 points in 23 AHL games so far this season, and he likely will play most of this season at that level before making a push for a full-time NHL role next year. Emil Heineman is another prospect already playing with the NHL club and soon to graduate (he has 33 NHL games played with six goals and three assists at the top level). Filip Mesar started his rookie AHL season with five points in his first five games before suffering a lower body injury that will likely keep him out of action until after the holidays. Owen Beck--also an AHL rookie--leads the Laval Rocket in scoring so far this season with 20 points in 26 games.

Return to the Team System Rankings

Below is the full list of the Montreal Canadiens's ranked prospects.

Top Forwards 

Top Defensemen