Montreal Canadiens fans don’t get a lot of breaking news in the month of August, so here at A Winning Habit, we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 31 prospects currently in the Habs organization. Each player was carefully deliberated by our writers and ranked accordingly. Today, we continue with our 25th-ranked prospect, Miguël Tourigny.
The Canadiens selected Tourigny in the seventh round with the 216th pick of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. At that time, Tourigny was an overeager, already 20-years-old and had been dominating the QMJHL, putting up 80 points in 65 games in his final season. Remember, he’s a defenseman, so that’s incredible production.
The knock on Tourigny is that he’s small, standing at just 5’8″ and 170 lbs. In other words, he doesn’t have an NHL body. That and his very offensive-minded game have called into question his ability to carve out a role in the NHL, but crazier things have happened.
I haven't seen anyone really talk about Miguël Tourigny this season, but he's 15th in defenceman scoring in the Slovakian pro league, and is second among U25 D's, with 3 goals and 13 points in 24 games (the guy ahead of him has played 34 games).
— Sebastian High (@high_sebastian) January 12, 2023
Not bad for his first pro season!
This past season, Tourigny played in Slovakia, his first season against men, and performed exceptionally well, putting up 24 points in 39 games. It’s clear that his offensive game won’t be deterred against bigger, stronger players, and I expect him to take his talents back to North America and play for Laval this year.
Tourigny has been described as a fourth forward on the ice and an extremely exciting player to watch as a result. Defensively, he’s at his best in transition, turning pucks over and going the other way quickly. Despite his slight frame, he’s not a liability, but it’s certainly not necessarily a strength in his game, either.
One thing I really love about Miguël Tourigny:
— Hadi Kalakeche (@HadiK_Scouting) September 18, 2022
Despite being a 5-8 offensive defenseman (or perhaps *because* of that), he's developed tools to force bigger forwards to the boards off the rush. He rarely relinquishes centre ice.#GoHabsGo
When talking about projection, it’s hard to say for sure what Tourigny could bring to the Canadiens. I look at the role Chris Wideman currently serves as a seventh defenseman who can run the Powerplay if needed and think Tourigny could do something similar. He’s crafty, but I do wonder if his game can translate to the NHL, where it is much harder to get away with the things he would’ve in the Q or even Slovakia.
Plus, with Lane Hutson already in the cards, the Canadiens likely want to keep the defensemen under six feet to a minimum. But for your 25th-ranked prospect, an overeager 7th-round pick to become even a seventh defenseman on your team is not bad at all. I’ll definitely be watching him more closely this year to see if his game continues to translate at the pro level.