Five Prospects The Montreal Canadiens Need To Get Signed ASAP
The Montreal Canadiens are in the stretch drive of their 2023-24 season. No one should be surprised that game 82 of the regular season will be the last time we see this year's version of the Canadiens as the playoffs were not an expectation of this team from day one.
They did get off to a better than expected start and hung around the fringes of the playoff picture for a little while, but they just don't have the depth to get into the top eight in the Eastern Conference yet.
Once Kirby Dach was injured and esepcially after Sean Monahan was traded, this team just didn't have what it takes to win on a regular basis. They have now tumbled down to the bottom ten and nearly into the bottom five of the NHL standings and are staring at a top pick yet again.
That means we are now focused on the future as Canadiens fans and the future does look bright. Juraj Slafkovksy was taken with the first overall pick in 2022 and David Reinbacher was selected with the fifth overall pick a year later. Both of those players look like future cornerstones of this franchise but there is more on the horizon as well.
The defense especially looks like it could be a juggernaut soon enough with Logan Mailloux and Justin Barron joining Reinbacher on the right side and a plethora of options on the left side including Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble, and Arber Xhekaj who are all already contributing at the NHL level and are in their early 20's meaning they will be around for a long time.
There are other prospects in the system as well and some of them need to get a contract soon or they could walk away. Here are five players the Canadiens can not wait to get signed and need to get them locked into a contract as soon as possible.
Oliver Kapanen
Oliver Kapanen was a second round draft pick of the Canadiens in 2020. He has been playing in Finland ever since he was picked by the Habs and is starting to show signs of a strong two-way game in Liiga, the top pro league in Finland.
He represented Finland twice at the World Juniors, scoring three points in five games and wearing the captain's C on his sweater in the 2023 tournament and he earned a silver medal for his country as well.
In Liiga this season, a traditionally lower scoring league, Kapanen scored 14 goals and 34 points in 51 games which was an increase of seven points in four less games compared to the previous season. He has been even better in the postseason, helping Kalpa win the qualification round as they were the seventh seed in their conference, and he now has seven points in just five postseason games.
He is still just 20 years old and is having great success in Liiga. The Canadiens hold his rights for another year after this, but he could become an NHL free agent on June 1, 2025 (according to capfriendly.com) and that is a situation the team needs to avoid.
Kapanen is a decent sized, 6'1" right shooting center with two-way capabilities. He is developing fine in Finland, but the quicker the team can get him to North America the better for his long term potential at the NHL level and they should be trying to do that immediately.
Adam Engstrom
The Canadiens selected Adam Engstrom in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft. He has played well in Sweden's top league, the SHL since then and showed off his impressive skating stride and offensive instincts at the 2023 World Juniors in Halifax.
In 2022-23, Engstrom suited up for Rogle and scored six goals and 16 points in 43 games for them from the left defense position. This season, he has put up four goals and 22 points in 51 games played in the regular season. That's a steady increase in points per game for a young offensive minded defenseman at a high level of hockey.
Engstrom's Rogle team is on a bit of a surprising run in the SHL Playoffs right now. Not that they have gone super far yet, but they had to play a qualification round just to get in and won that series 2-0 before taking on the top seed in their conference in round one. Right now, they are up 3-0 in that series, and the results were expected to be the complete opposite.
There have been rumours he would leave Sweden to sign in North America when his season ended, but his team has lasted a lot longer than anyone predicted already. The Canadiens still hold his rights until June 1, 2026 so they are not at risk of losing him, but to bring him to the Laval Rocket and get a closer look at him in a league near the NHL would be ideal for his development.
Luke Tuch
Luke Tuch was a second round pick of the Canadiens in the 2020 NHL Draft. He was selected within a pick of Jan Mysak who was recently traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Jacob Perreault, a former first round pick with plenty of skill and happens to be the son of former Canadiens center Yanic Perreault.
Tuch could also be leaving the organization as he is eligible to be an unrestricted free agent as of August 1, 2024. That means the Canadiens have to sign him in the next five months or he will be leaving the organization to sign elsewhere.
Tuch currently plays for Boston University, and has played there since he was picked by the Canadiens. His offensive production has not been exceptional, but also isn't terrible as he has put up nine goals and 28 points in 36 games this season. He had 11 points in 16 games as a freshman three seasons ago, so there has not been a huge increase in production which is a bit of a red flag for a young player staying at the same level of hockey.
What he does bring is size as he is 6'2" and over 200 pounds but he plays such a physical forechecking style he appears to be even bigger. He has decent skating for a player his size and excellent board work that helps him win battles down low and create some chaos in front of the opposing net.
He may never turn out to be a good enough scorer to play on a top nine in the NHL, but the Canadiens do not have a lot of young players with Tuch's size and ability to battle. He remains a long term project, but the Canadiens need to get him signed instead of losing him for nothing this summer.
Jared Davidson
Jared Davidson is playing for the Laval Rocket already, but he could see his NHL rights with the Canadiens expire this summer. That is because he was drafted two years ago out of the Western Hockey League where he played with the Seattle Thunderbirds. When an NHL team drafted a player out of the CHL, they have two years to sign them or they lose their rights.
Davidson was an interesting case because he only had one year of Junior hockey eligibility left when the Canadiens drafted him. That left him with little options for this current season as he was too old to return to Junior but also not eligible to sign anywhere else because the Canadiens drafted him.
So, he is signed to an AHL only contract for this season. That means he is only allowed to play for the Laval Rocket but he can not even be called up to the Canadiens because he has never signed an entry-level contract.
Davidson scored a combined 80 goals in the WHL over his final two seasons and has shown just enough tenacity and offensive touch at the AHL level this season that he deserves an entry-level contract for next year. He scored 11 goals in 38 games for the Rocket before injuries sidelined him and could be a difference maker for them next season.
He still has a long way to go before the NHL is on his radar, but he plays with a bit of that Brendan Gallagher style of grit that means a team will never regret having him stick around on their roster and the Canadiens should ensure he ends up in the organization next season.
Lane Hutson
The biggest fish the Canadiens need to get signed this offseason is Lane Hutson. He was the team's second round pick, 62nd overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. The young defenseman is an exceptional skater and unbelievable offensive creator that has the potential to change the fortunes of the Canadiens in the next couple of years.
He has been unstoppable at the college level for the past two seasons. As a freshman, he scored 15 goals and 48 points in 39 games for Boston University. This season, his second with the Terriers, he has 13 goals and 46 points in 35 games.
More impressive than the actual numbers are his ability to elude defenders with ridiculously quick change of direction with the puck and edgework on his skates that often leaves defenders falling out of theirs.
There is plenty of time for the Canadiens to get Hutson signed as they hold his rights until the summer of 2026 before they would lose his rights, but they want this player playing pro hockey as soon as possible. Sending him back to dominate college hockey for a third consecutive season makes no sense, and he has the skill to be a player who jumps directly into the Canadiens lineup next season.
It is imperative that the Canadiens get Hutson signed this summer and start to develop him at the pro level. He has shown in two years that he is excellent offensively at the NCAA level and can handle himself defensively just fine as well.
The Canadiens need to get him signed and there is no reason to believe this will be a problem so it is time to start the clock on Hutson's upcoming lengthy pro career.
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