Montreal Canadiens Top 5 Prospects Playing In USA Next Season
5. Brett Stapley, Denver Pioneers
The Montreal Canadiens took a flyer on Brett Stapley in the 7th round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He had just finished his third season with the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL, a Jr A league in British Columbia and not the WHL where most of the top prospects from Western Canada ply their trade.
Stapley played three seasons of Jr. A to maintain his NCAA Hockey eligibility. He scored 59 points in 52 games in his final season with the Vipers. The year prior he had 50 points in 52 games. Solid numbers when playing against player a couple years older than you.
Stapley headed to Denver to suit up for a deep Pioneers squad last season. He started the year slowly but eventually worked his way up the lineup and into a top six role. He finished his freshman season with 19 points in 32 games.
Even though he missed nine games with injuries, he finished sixth on a great team in scoring. Denver lost in the national semi-final to the University of Massachusetts in overtime. As a freshman and a 7th round pick it was great to see Stapley earn a big role on such a great team right away.
Heading into next season, make sure to keep an eye on the Pioneers center. A year before taking Stapley in the 7th round and having him head to College, the Canadiens took Cayden Primeau in the 7th round and watched him head to Northeastern.
Primeau turned into one of the team’s top prospects in short order. If Stapley continues the trajectory he was on last season he could be among the team’s top prospects by this time next year.
4. Rhett Pitlick, Omaha Lancers
Rhett Pitlick, like Stapley, played a lower level of hockey in his draft year. Also like Stapley he performed extremely well in that league. Pitlick was taken in the 5th round of the 2019 NHL Draft and has already made an impression on Habs fans.
Pitlick played high school hockey in Minnesota last season. The native of Chaska, Minnesota also played a handful of games with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL. He absolutely torched the high school league, scoring 61 points in 25 games.
It’s hard to decipher how impressive high point totals are in lower levels of hockey, but Pitlick basically scored at the same pace Casey Mittlestadt did in the same league in their respective draft years. Before being taken 8th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2017, Mittlestadt had 64 points in 25 games in the same Minnesota High School league.
Mittlestadt played the next season with the University of Minnesota scoring 30 points in 34 games. Pitlick is going to continue following in the Sabres center’s footsteps by heading to the University of Minnesota in the fall.
Pitlick was one of the standout players at the Canadiens recent development camp. He has tons of speed, skill and puck-handling abilities and the 18 year old put them on full display during the camp.
I don’t think he will become a one-and-done College player like Mittlestadt did, but it will be very interesting to watch Pitlick next season.
3. Jayden Struble, Northeastern
If you got into the habit of watching Northeastern on Friday nights last season because Cayden Primeau was there, just keep tuning in next season. The Canadiens drafted Jayden Struble in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft and have found themselves a solid prospect.
The Cumberland, Rhode Island native played the past three seasons in United States Prep School leagues, fine tuning his craft. He is a smooth skating, puck moving blue liner who is going to cram all summer to finish his high school studies early so he can head to Northeastern next year.
Again, he played in a lower league like Stapley and Pitlick before being drafted so his statistics look incredible, but they have to be taken with a grain of salt. He scored 40 points in 28 games for St. Sebastian’s School. Again, at such a low level, it’s hard to be impressed by his great statistics.
Struble still has a lot to prove and that is why it will be so interesting to watch him as a young freshman. In fact, Struble doesn’t even turn 18 until August so he will be a very young freshman suiting up for the Huskies next year.
There will be huge opportunity awaiting Struble at Northeastern as they lost number one defenseman Jeremy Davies who left to turn pro. They also lost Cayden Primeau in goal who was the Mike Richter Award winner last season as best goaltender in the nation. So Northeastern defenders will have to be a little sharper as they don’t have the Habs prospect in goal to help them out.
It will be fun to watch Struble and see if he is able to take advantage of the opportunity that has been presented to him. He will be one of the youngest players in College Hockey, but will he be able to grab a prominent role right away?
2. Jordan Harris, Northeastern
When Jayden Struble shows up at Northeastern, he will see at least one familiar face. Jordan Harris was a third round pick by the Montreal Canadiens in 2018 and met Struble at the Habs development camp last week. Harris played prep school as well before being drafted with Kimball Union Academy where he scored 35 points in 37 games.
Harris was able to earn prime ice time as a freshman at Northeastern, an accomplishment that Struble will be looking to replicate this season. Harris is a left shooting defender who is capable of taking care of business at both ends of the ice. He didn’t have huge offensive numbers, finishing with 13 points in 39 games, but he can skate well and move the puck up ice to transition from defence to offence.
With Jeremy Davies turning pro, there is no question that the number one guy on the Huskies blue line next season will be Harris.
The Havervill, Massachusetts native should be able to provide much more offence next season. Davies role on the power play is up for grabs and Harris is the best candidate for the job. An increased role and a year of experience will do wonders for Harris.
He’s still 18 years old after his first NCAA season so there is lots of time and room for growth for Harris. He has the opportunity to take a huge step next season and though the team may not have as much as success, the Habs prospect could have a huge season.
1. Cole Caufield, Wisconsin
The steal of the 2019 NHL Draft, Cole Caufield could be the best goal scorer to be taken this year. He fell to the Canadiens at 15th overall in what can only be described as a tremendously fortunate event for the Marc Bergevin administration.
The Stevens Point, Wisconsin native has scored an incredible number of goals at every level of hockey he has played. He set records this year for the United States National Development Program as well as a few records at the World Under-18 Championships.
Caufield sniped 72 times in 64 games for the development team and then lit up the Under-18’s by scoring 14 times in just seven games. He scored at a goal per game pace when he was on the U-17 development team. When he played high school in his hometown he was 15 years old and still scored two goals per game.
Caufield is going to score a lot of goals at the University of Wisconsin next season. I am as sure of that as I am that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. He is a speedy winger that has a Brett Hull-esque ability to get open in the slot and almost never missed when given a chance in front of the net.
Watching him play NCAA Hockey next season will be very exciting. It will be tough for him to continue his goal-per-game pace he has been on at least since he played minor bantam for Team Illinois. However, he will be joined at Wisconsin by Alex Turcotte who was taken fifth overall by the Los Angeles Kings as his center so you never know.
Just feed him the puck on the power play and let him do the rest. He will do for Wisconsin what Alex Ovechkin has done for the Washington Capitals for so many years. Score, score and score some more.
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Most of these players play all of their games on Friday and Saturday nights. Saturday night is Hockey Night in Canada and the Habs are on almost every Saturday. However, if Friday night isn’t already Habs Prospects Night In America at your house, it should be next season.