Montreal Canadiens: Draft Eligible Prospect Steals Show Against Lane Hutson

The Montreal Canadiens management got a show when 2024 number two ranked draft prospect Cole Eiserman faced the Boston University Terriers. The Terriers, as you know, have Canadiens top prospect Lane Hutson, along with Macklin Celebrini, Devin Kaplan and Quinn Hutson.

Unfortunately for the Terriers, the USNTDP squad wasn’t in a losing mood, and to say that translated onto the ice would be an understatement. Cole Hutson marked the third Hutson brother playing in the game, with Eiserman and the U18 squad, and they both had strong outings.

Eiserman led the way with a five-point night, including a hat trick. He was every bit as dangerous as advertised and was a constant thorn in goaltender Mathieu Caron’s side. The play of Eiserman should be a huge confidence boost for his 2023-24 season, especially because the Terriers are the team he has committed to for his college career.

With another full year after this one to develop, and round out his game against college competition, he could be a very nice consolation prize. That is if he doesn’t leapfrog Macklin Celebrini as the draft class’s top prospect. Without getting ahead of ourselves, it looks as though Eiserman will battle Ivan Demidov, Artyom Levshunov and Konsta Helenius.

The impressive thing about Eiserman, and his scoring ability, is that it’s not a surprise to opponents. He is a pure sniper in every sense, with an offensive mind that ties it all together. Defences can’t stop him, and he finds new ways to get open in high-danger scoring areas.

For a long time, the Canadiens have lacked a pure goalscorer and, thankfully, they were able to draft Cole Caufield in 2019. He has been brilliant and led the Habs offence. But the idea of having two Coles from the United States National Team Development Program on the same roster that can score from anywhere in the offensive zone would address power plat woes in a hurry.

Eiserman looks to be the draft’s best pure shooter, and while his shot is ridiculous, it’s the way he processes the play that makes his potential so high. With the young playmakers in Montreal and the ones on the way, at both forward and defence, he would have ample scoring opportunities. It’s a dream, and we’re only two games into the 2024 season, but the opportunity to add another big-time goalscorer to the lineup would be massive for the organization.

Habs prospect Lane Hutson will likely be with the Canadiens next season if I had to guess, but if not, Eiserman will join him, Celebrini and younger brother Cole with BU. That could be a dynamic lineup, and really make some noise in the NCAA. The Terriers are already a team that most Habs fans have paid close attention to, and Eiserman would do the exact same, possibly rivalling the attention that Caufield brought to the Wisconsin Badgers games.

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