Montreal Canadiens: Top 31 Prospects – #16 William Trudeau

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 16th-ranked player, William Trudeau.

After a fantastic professional rookie season, Trudeau was a bright spot on the Rocket roster and showed fantastic two-way play. His growth from one season to the next continued from his junior career over to his professional career. The 2021 fourth-round selection (113th overall) scored 8-36-44 totals in 68 games during his draft-plus-one season, before displaying playoff prowess, by way of 11 points (7g and four assists) in 14 QMJHL playoff games.

The 2022-23 season was his rookie season in Laval, and he proved early on that he belonged, and stayed in the American league for the whole season. Trudeau showed intelligence, poise and that there might be a bit more offence in him. He played 60 games, and posted 7 goals and 20 assists, adding in 59 penalty minutes, and a solid plus-minus (+8).

2023-24, should all go well, could be the year that Trudeau emerges as one of the Rocket’s top defensemen, and earn himself an NHL call-up mid-season. With the rebuild currently active, all these pieces inching closer to turning pro puts the Canadiens in an enviable position, and Trudeau is another piece that could be ready to battle for a spot on the Habs roster come 2024-25. The issue is not whether he will play in the NHL, it’s where he will fit, and that could very well be outside of the Canadiens organization.

Currently, Trudeau ranks 16th, and that isn’t a knock against him, but rather a notch in the Habs belt; as they have turned a new leaf in their prospect development department. He projects, at this point, as a bottom pairing dman in the NHL, and given the plethora of left-shot defensemen in the system and on the NHL roster, the opportunities in Montreal will be few and far between. A big season in 2023-24 could force the Canadiens’ hand, and whether they keep the young rearguard around or ship him out for assets will be a big decision for Hughes and Jeff Gorton.

I would bet that Trudeau has another great season, to follow up his rookie year, and shows up at Canadiens camp in October 2024 ready to grab a roster spot. He also has the potential to move up this list and cement himself as one of the Canadiens’ top defence prospects. He likely won’t leapfrog Hutson, Mailloux, Reinbacher and Engstrom, but he could slot in nicely in their top five defence prospects if he can wrestle that distinction from Jayden Struble.

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