Montreal Canadiens Prospects Cole Fonstad, Allan McShane Off To Canada Russia Series

The Montreal Canadiens have done a great job finding solid NHL prospects late in the NHL Draft. Cole Fonstad and Allan McShane are two of them and they are going to represent their country at the Canada Russia series.

The Montreal Canadiens have done well at the last few NHL Drafts. They have quickly built up one of the best groups of prospects around the league. That group is led by first round picks like Cole Caufield, Ryan Poehling and Nick Suzuki, but what makes the Habs prospect cupboards so deep is that they have been able to find good players in all rounds of the draft lately.

Two of those later picks are Allan McShane and Cole Fonstad. It was announced yesterday that these two players will represent their current leagues in the annual CHL Canada Russia series that takes place across Canada in November.

The Russian Junior team that is preparing for the annual World Junior Tournament in December and January send their team to Canada every November to play six games against players that are hoping to crack Canada’s World Junior team. They play each of the QMJHL, OHL and WHL twice.

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McShane was drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft and is proving to be a great pick for the 97th overall selection. He scored 34 goals and 69 points in 62 games last season for the Oshawa Generals and is off to a great start this season. The 19 year old centre has scored four goals and 13 points in nine games.

For the second straight week, the Generals are ranked first in the weekly CHL Top Ten list. They are leading the Ontario Hockey League standings with a perfect 9-0-0 record. McShane is playing a huge role on that team and will now have a chance to showcase his talent on a bigger stage.

In a bit of an odd move, it was also announced that McShane will only play one of the OHL’s two games. He will suit up for Team OHL on November 11th in London, Ontario.

Fonstad will play both games for Team WHL. They take place on Wednesday, November 13th in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Thursday, November 14th in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Fonstad was recently traded by the Prince Albert Raiders to the Everett Silvetipts, so he will be playing in a familiar rink in the final game of the series.

Fonstad scored 29 goals and 73 points in 67 games for the Raiders last season and was off to a good start this year before being dealt. He had two goals and nine points in nine games for the Radiers but it wasn’t enough for the third ranked team in Canada to keep him. He scored a goal and added two assists in his debut for the Everett Silvertips last night.

I thought Habs prospect Samuel Houde would have had a chance to get invited to this event as well since he is off to a great strong start for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. The 19 year old is a strong two-way winger who has seven goals and 13 points in ten games in the QMJHL.

Houde could still be an injury replacement in the future, but if not we will still get a chance to see McShane and Fonstad attempting to show they belong at the World Juniors.