The Montreal Canadiens are having a bit of an up and down season. We have seen this story before and it has not ended well when the team has short bursts of strong play and some lengthy periods of malaise as well.
This year’s team started off the season 5-2-1 and also had some great showings against the Vegas Golden Knights on the road and on home ice against the Boston Bruins. However, they are also prone to having a night where almost nothing offensively happens, like their most recent game.
The Canadiens had one shot on goal in the first period against the Los Angeles Kings and never found the back of the net in a 4-0 loss. There was nothing offensively, and almost no emotion as the team seemed ready for the rookie dinner that was happening after the game before the puck even dropped.
It is games like that one that remind us fans that it could be a long season. When the team is hovering around a .500 points percentage in November and decide not to show up, you have to worry about what type of effort we will see in February and March.
So, we should look at how some of the team’s top prospects are performing so far this season. While the Habs roster has not surprised us that much, let’s take a look at some of the team’s recent draft picks that are off to surprisingly great starts to the season.
These three players have really improved their stock so far this season and have been playing a much better game than we could have expected coming into the season. This isn’t to suggest they are the team’s top prospects, as Lane Hutson and Joshua Roy are still two of the team’s best prospects, but their strong play this season isn’t shocking.
But these three players have made us sit up and take notice in the early stages of this season.