Montreal Canadiens Top Prospects Countdown: #13: Jan Mysak

Montreal Canadiens general manager, Marc Bergevin, has compiled a long list of prospects. We are counting down the top 30. At #13 we have LW Jan Mysak.

The Montreal Canadiens’ general manager, Marc Bergevin, has been building through the draft for the past three years. It has resulted in the Habs having one of the deepest group of prospects in the league.

So, we have been counting down the Canadiens’ Top 30 prospects.

This started on November 1 with the 30th spot going to Jack Gorniak. The 29th spot went to Jacob LeGuerrier, the 28th place was taken by Otto Leskinen, 27th went to Rafael Harvey-Pinard, 26th was Jack Smith, 25th was Jacob Olofsson, 24th was Lukas Vejdemo, the 23rd spot went to Alexander Gordin, Blake Biondi came in at 22nd and Rhett Pitlick was 21st. Joni Ikonen began the top 20, Brett Stapley was number 19, Joel Teasdale 18th, Gianni Fairbrother 17th, Cam Hillis was #16, Luke Tuch was 15th and Josh Brook came in at #14 on our list.

That brings us to our lucky number 13: Jan Mysak. Of the Canadiens back-to-back 2020 second-round selections (Mysak along with Luke Tuch), Mysak has received most of the fanfare from Habs’ supporters, due to his fairly high offensive potential, strong skating stride and good defensive play. This toolkit had me rank him at number 10 among all Habs prospects, which was higher than any of our other writers: Ken MacMillan and Scott Cowan both had him at number 12, while Teddy Elliot isn’t quite as convinced as the rest of us by this prospect, slotting him in at 17.

At this stage of the countdown, we are beginning to cover players who have an actual shot at cracking the top half of the lineup in their primes. Thus, if everything goes right in Jan Mysak’s development, he could turn into a top-6 forward. Mysak can play both centre and left-wing, but will likely end up on the wing if he makes the NHL, which suits the Canadiens just fine since their prospect pool at left-wing is weak relative to the other forward positions.

Mysak was quite widely regarded as a late-first/early-second round prospect, and he fell to the middle of the second round. He produced 5 goals and 9 points in 26 games with HC Litvinov in the Czech League while playing against men, before switching to the OHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs, where he accumulated 15 goals and 25 points in 22 games, not bad for his first time playing on North-American ice.

While the 6’00”, 181 lbs Czech has the capability of producing highlight-reel plays, weaving through a defence and tucking the puck into the back of the net, he brings more than just that to the table. He lacks that one specific elite skill, but he is very good at just about everything: he can score, he can pass, he can skate, he’s smart, he plays well defensively, he forechecks and he backchecks.

This toolkit reminds me quite a bit of Artturi Lehkonen, though he will hopefully develop a knack for capitalizing on golden opportunities that Lehkonen never has. And even if Mysak does just develop into a Lehkonen 2.0, that would be a steal at 48th overall. For context, Lehkonen was chosen 55th overall in 2013 but sits at #25 in points from that draft class and at #15 in goals scored.

Jan Mysak is currently out on loan at HC Litvinov, his former team, while the OHL awaits resumption in play. Still, given the ruling that there is to be no bodychecking in the OHL, it is conceivable that Mysak or the Canadiens’ developmental staff opt for him to stay in Czechia. Thus far in his stint back home, he has produced no points in 3 Czech Extraliga games but has contributed an assist on the International stage in two games with the Czech Men’s team. One thing Habs’ fans should keep their eyes on will be his performance at the World Juniors, where he is certain to play a prominent role.

Jan Mysak is a really interesting prospect and one that could very well make his way well into the top-10 within two years if his development continues on its current trajectory. There really is are reasons to be excited about this player; he plays with pace, works hard and produces.