Montreal Canadiens Top Prospect is Jacob De La Rose?

Jacob De La Rose

20 yrs old

2014-15 regular season stats: 33 GP – 4 G – 2 A – 6 PTS, Minus 5

2014-15 playoff stats: 12 GP – 0 G – 0 A – 0 PTS, Neutral +/-

According to Arpon Masu, a writer for NHL.com who posts his stuff on the Montreal Canadiens home page, Jacob De La Rose is currently the top prospect for the Habs. I’m going to tell you this right here and right now, if that’s the case, forget about winning a Stanley Cup in Montreal, because the well of talent dried up right after the Habs promoted Alex Galchenyuk.

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You cannot be serious Arpon. Any time you post that the top prospect in any organization is a 3rd or 4th liner that is extremely unlikely to be anything but that, you just spoke to the extreme lack of talent in that organization’s minor league system.

If we took your word for it and said alright, De La Rose is the Canadiens Top Prospect this off season, we would be diminishing the value of others such as Nikita Scherbak, Charles Hudon, and Noah Juulsen – all of which are much more talented than Jacob De La Rose and actually have a shot at playing a prominent role on the team.

I don’t mean for this to come across as too aggressive, but to me, a prospect’s ranking should be based more on ceiling than on a simple “can he make the club” question.

The truth is that De La Rose does not have any offensive talent to speak of, making him a poor man’s third liner, or more likely a fourth liner. He’s a player that will play responsibly, but in no way shape or form is he a two-way player. A two-way player implies that you can score or be a play maker. Even if we tripled his stats to represent a 99 game season, De La Rose would have a meager 18 points, a -15 rating, and very little impact on whether or not the team wins games.

There is nothing that I have seen while watching the Habs play last season which tells me he derserves to be on the 2015-16 roster. In fact, I sincerely hope that a rookie – such as Charles Hudon – will take his spot and earn some playing time alongside Lars Eller.

To make an actual comparison with what was a European prospect who was considered to be an actual top prospect for the Habs, I’ll take a look at Saku Koivu.

Koivu was 20 yrs old for half of the 1995-96 season and also came over from Europe at that age to play in the NHL as a rookie. He played 82 games, scored 20 goals and had 25 assists for a total of 45 points. That’s what a top prospect does in an organization. He is provided the spot on the roster to make an impact and he puts up points. This was accomplished on the third line since he had both Pierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse playing ahead of him, so the direct comparison is valid.

Saku Koivu was a player the Habs could proudly point to as their top prospect. Jacob De La Rose? I certainly hope not.

Sep 26, 2014; Quebec City, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Jacob De La Rose (25) skates before the game against Colorado Avalanche at Colisee Pepsi. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

In fairness, I do believe that every knowledgeable Habs fan knows that Nikita Scherbak is the true top prospect of the Montreal Canadiens. I don’t know how much hockey Arpon really watches, but he should check with us first before making his next list.

If anyone can explain to me what the team, and Arpon Masu, sees in Jacob De La Rose and how he can be seen as within the top 5 Habs prospects, please do so in the comments below. I need to know why this is happening since it boggles my mind and makes me questions whether or not the Habs actually want to win a Stanley Cup when they’re ready to have such a neutral player on their team.

Jacob De La Rose is still a decent hockey player and may one day be worthy of a role on the 3rd line of an NHL club. But as of today, in a season that has the Habs aiming directly at advancing further into the Stanley Cup playoffs, he does not have any other role than filler on the 4th line. There are hundreds of better hockey players in the NHL that would make more of an impact as third liners on the Montreal Canadiens in 2015-16. That’s my position and I’ll stick to it until he proves me wrong.

There, I’ve vented and said my peace. Hopefully it gets a good conversation started and we can move forward through the pre-season.

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