Montreal Canadiens: Three Draft Eligible Prospects (Other Than Bedard) To Be Excited About

Dalibor Dvorsky

Dalibor Dvorksy put himself of the hockey map with a huge performance at the 2021-22 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. That was before the 2021-22 season, so he was just 16 years old playing against a bunch of 17’s and he was dominant.

Dvorsky, a Slovakian (Habs like drafting Slovakians in the 1st round, don’t they?) centre put up an incredible eight goals and 12 points in five games at that year’s event for draft eligibles. His teammates at that tournament? Well, two of them were Juraj Slafkovsky and Filip Mesar.

Dvorksy is a good sized centre at 6’1″ and 201 pounds and he is showing an impressive offensive game as well. He is playing pro in Sweden this season, in Allsvenskan which is their second best pro league.

So far, he has three goals and five points in six games at that level, as well as three goals and eight points in five games at the Under-20 level.

A centre with size and the ability to score in Sweden’s pro leagues at the age of 17 is a great talent. He is going to be a great pickup for someone early in next year’s NHL Draft and he already has some built in chemistry with a couple of prominent Habs picks.

Dalibor Dvorsky is a cool name, and one that Habs fans should keep an eye on this season as he plays in Allsvenskan and possibly, maybe, plays on a line with Juraj Slafkovsky at the World Juniors.

Brayden Yager

Brayden Yager is another skilled centre who is going to put up monster numbers this season. He already is, early in the WHL campaign with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

The 17 year old centre has scored three goals and 11 points in eight games already this season, after putting up 34 goals and 59 points in 63 games last season. Scoring goals is hard in the WHL and this guy did it 34 times in his 16 year old season. That is impressive.

Yager was also great on the international stage for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer. He was a big reason Canada won a gold medal as he scored five goals and nine points in five games at the event.

He is a good skater and smart offensive player, but his greatest asset is his release. The puck is on and off his stick is an instant and he just rips it home. The Canadiens already have a young right shot forward that can do that, but you can’t have too many goal scorers on the team, right?

Adam Fantilli

While there was never a debate about who is going first overall in next year’s NHL Draft, there is starting to be less and less debate about who should go second as well. It was long thought that Matvei Michkov would be the second player picked but he is signed long term in Russia and might not leave.

With Michkov becoming more of a mystery, and a very risky player to take second overall, Fantilli has leaped into that spot. He was already ranked right up there with Michkov, but his start this season has done nothing to slow down the hype train.

Fantilli just turned 18 last week so he is playing his freshman season of college hockey with Michigan. The Wolverines are a powerhouse program, and the young centre has stepped right into a prominent role with them.

Fantilli has played just four games at the college level, but he looks like a senior on the ice. He has scored one goal and seven assists for eight points in those four games, averaging two points per game in his first taste of NCAA Hockey.

This is from last season, and is grainy video, but is still worth adding:

He almost did it again at the Under-18’s:

Here is his first in NCAA:

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