Montreal Canadiens: Three Players Poised For Huge Breakout Season
Alex Newhook
The Canadiens traded a late first round pick and an early second round pick for Alex Newhook at the NHL Draft. After giving up a couple of big assets for the young player, he is sure to get an opportunity to prove himself.
One thing we know about him already is he can really skate. It is the one attribute that really stands out when watching the 22 year old play. He was a first round pick of the Avalanche in 2019 before playing two great seasons of college hockey with Boston College.
Since then he has had his ups and downs at the pro level. He has scored 20 points in just 18 career AHL games, but has not been able to bring much offense at the NHL level. At least not yet. The Avalanche have been a Stanley Cup contender since he arrived and are not in the position to be patient and wait for a young player to develop as he plays big minutes.
So, Newhook was never really given a prime time look long term. With the Canadiens, a rebuilding team that invested in him and want him to be a big part of their future, he is going to get a long look in their top six. With his speed and skill, he is likely to turn it into a successful NHL season.
Newhook’s career highs are 14 goals which he had last season and 33 points which he had in 2020-21. With him likely starting the season on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield where he will use his speed to create offensive chances for Caufield to blast into the net, Newhook is pretty much guaranteed to blow past his previous career highs.
With the Habs two best offensive players as his linemates, don’t be surprised if Newhook passes his career highs long before the end of the season and is one of the top scorers on the Canadiens this season.
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