Montreal Canadiens: Top 31 Prospects – #21 Luke Tuch

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 the 21st ranked prospect, Luke Tuch.

Tuch was selected by the Canadiens in the 2nd round at 47th overall in 2020.  At the time, the native of Baldwinsville, New York was coming off two productive seasons with the U.S. National Development Team.  The brother of Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch, the younger Tuch was particularly noticeable in his draft year, when he was able to put up eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 19 games.

Tuch has spent the past three years honing his game at Boston University where the rugged forward was a solid contributor.  He joined fellow Canadiens draftee Lane Hutson in playing a key role in the Terriers unexpected run to the Frozen Four this past season.  He was also recently selected to play alongside his brother in representing the United States at the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championships in Latvia.

Hutson and fellow Habs prospect Sean Farrell were also named to a U.S. squad that had a great round robin portion of the tournament winning Group A.  The Americans ran into some bad luck in the knockout stage with back to back overtime losses, ultimately placing 4th.  Tuch did not look out of place and managed a goal in his four game appearances, surely a great experience for the up and coming young player.

At 6’2” and 210 pounds, Tuch already has an NHL frame.  The tough two-way winger can play a physical brand of hockey and possesses a heavy shot.  He also has good forecheck skills and wins his share of puck battles.  With his combination of size and strength, Tuch can be a solid net front presence that is difficult to move off his spot.  While he lacks the foot speed and creativity to contribute consistent offense in the NHL, he could certainly be a complimentary winger on a top line or fill an energy role in the bottom six.  In a Canadiens prospect pool that is lacking in physicality, Tuch has the type of grit and sandpaper to his game that could give him an inside track to getting to the NHL quicker than some of his higher rated peers.

Tuch turned heads at the Canadiens recent development camp in Brossard and is expected to join the Laval Rocket this season.  It will be interesting to see where he slots in on the depth chart but I would not be surprised at all to see him line up alongside smaller skill players like Farrell, Filip Mesar or Joshua Roy to be the thunder to their lightning.  We should be seeing Tuch fill out a Habs sweater in the near future and if he can set a physical tone early in his AHL tenure, it will be sooner than later.

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