Montreal Canadiens: Top 31 Rankings – Prospect #17 Jared Davidson

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’re onto the 17th-ranked player, Jared Davidson.

Selected as an over-ager in the 2022 NHL Draft, Davidson was a late bloomer in junior, which led to him being passed over in consecutive drafts. He didn’t show what he was fully capable of until his fourth season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, exploding for 42-47-89 point totals through 64 games, before scoring 29 points in 25 playoff games during the 2021-22 campaign. His play caught the eye of Canadiens management, and he decided to take a flier on Davidson, in the fifth round of the draft.

His draft-plus-one regular season wasn’t quite as strong as his ’21-’22 season, but he still eclipsed the 80-point plateau (82) despite playing four fewer games. But Davidson had something in store for the WHL playoffs, and he showed the Canadiens brass just what kind of leader he can develop into. Davidson played 19 games, and 11-12-23 totals, in helping the Thunderbirds secure the WHL championship, and within one win of a Memorial Cup championship.

If his past two seasons say anything about his trajectory going forward, he is on a steep incline and it has come at just the right time for the 21-year-old. The Laval Rocket will welcome Davidson into the fold with open arms, and he is in an envious position, with an opportunity to prove his worth in the American Hockey League. With JF Houle leading the youth movement as the Rocket bench boss, and Adam Nicholas just down the road in Montreal, Davidson will have ample assistance for his development.

Because of the unknown and sudden rise up the rankings in such short order, his upcoming season will be a big one in determining what sort of professional player that he can turn into. Davidson skates well, and has proven to be a clutch player; with his strong performance as one of the veterans on the Thunderbirds squad during the 2022-23 playoffs, and Memorial Cup tournament. He has a fantastic shot that explodes off of his blade, with power and accuracy and his playmaking acumen rounds out his offensive game, he also pitches in defensively and will look to improve his off-puck game in Laval.

Davidson is a tough one to evaluate because of how his development has skyrocketed over the past two seasons. If the trend continues, a strong season in Laval should be on the horizon, which will only improve his stock. The 17th-ranked prospect in the Canadiens organization will join a solid group in Laval, and look to shoot up the rankings come 2024-25.

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