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Montreal Canadiens: Three Prospects Entering Season With One Last Chance

By Ken MacMillan

Nov 20, 2021; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens Mattias Norlinder. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2021; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens Mattias Norlinder. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports /
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MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JULY 08: Cedrick Guindon. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JULY 08: Cedrick Guindon. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Cedrick Guindon

Cedrick Guindon was a fourth round pick of the Canadiens in 2022 after a strong rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League. He sat out the 2020-21 season, as many players in Ontario did due to Covid, but burst onto the scene with a strong season in 2021-22.

He scored 30 goals and 59 points in 68 games for the Owen Sound Attack, immediately becoming one of their go to offensive players in his 17 year old Junior season. It was a great debut for the Rockland, Ontario native.

However, he was not able to take a big step forward in 2022-23. As an 18 year old in the OHL, he did score 69 points, which was a ten point improvement from the previous season, but he also dropped to 22 goals which were eight less than his rookie season. It is not like he fell off the map or anything, but he just didn’t take a big leap forward as you would like to see from a teenaged player.

His numbers are reminiscient of Allan McShane who was a fourth round pick of the Canadiens in 2018. He scored 34 goals and 69 points in 62 games in 2018-19 and then had 23 goals and 67 points in 62 games the following year. The Habs chose not to offer him a contract at that time.

Guindon is now entering a season where he needs to show improvement over the past two years. If he hovers around the 25-30 goal and 65-70 point area yet again the team may be worried about his lack of improvement and choose not to use a contract slot on him. He will need to set career highs in OHL points to earn an entry-level contract.

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