Montreal Canadiens Top 31 Prospects: #7 Filip Mesar

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 7th-ranked player, Filip Mesar.

The Montreal Canadiens were the talk of the 2022 NHL Draft, and it was because they owned the first overall pick. They eventually chose Juraj Slafkovsky with that pick, but it was not their only selection in the opening round that year.

The Canadiens had traded Tyler Toffoli earlier that season to the Calgary Flames and part of the return was the Flames first round pick in 2022. That ended up being the 22nd overall selection and the Canadiens went with yet another Slovakian when they chose Filip Mesar.

It was certainly not an off the board selection, but Mesar was not as well known since he had been playing pro in Slovakia and was ranked a little later, but still a potential late first round pick by most draft analysts.

Mesar was described as a quick and skilled forward who was a bit undersized at 5’10” and 174 pounds. He had scored 16 points in 37 games in Slovakia’s top league in 2021-22 and put up 14 points in 36 games the previous season.

The teenaged prospect made the switch to North America after being drafted and suited up with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. There, he showed his game to a wider audience and proved to be quite an elusive winger who darts one way and then another to avoid losing puck possession.

He finds open ice all over the offensive zone, extending plays by simply stickhandling through traffic and into open ice to buy time for his teammates to set up an offensive play or get open in the slot.

While he has a decent shot that can beat a goaltender from a distance, his stickhandling, vision, creativity and passing are his strongest assets. Mesar scored 17 goals and 34 assists for 51 points in 52 OHL games. It was his first season of hockey on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, and he had his ups and downs throughout the year.

While he had some great stretches of hockey at times, he also closed out with just one goal and four points in nine playoff games for the Rangers. He did play 61 total games with the Rangers, plus one in the AHL to begin the season and five games at the World Juniors for a total of 67 on the season. That’s a huge increase from his 37 game season the previous year, so it makes sense that he ran out of gas late in the season.

It appears Mesar will play the upcoming season with the Laval Rocket of the AHL, though that is yet to be determined. He is still just 19 years old and could easily return to Junior for another year if the Canadiens decide that is the best approach, but after playing two years of pro hockey in Europe, he may be ready for AHL action now.

Mesar does need to iron out a few wrinkles to his game, but mainly just has to address his consistency issues. They can be explained away by the large increase in games, but it will be important for him to show in 2023-24 he can handle a longer schedule and continue to be effective.

If he can show a little more consistency, there is every reason to believe Mesar can be a top-six puck controling and playmaking winger for the Canadiens in the near future.

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