The Montreal Canadiens prospect pool lacked some pure offensive talent up front, that was before the 2024 NHL Draft.
But, as seen in NHL.com's rankings the Canadiens' recent first-round selection corrected that issue. Skyrocketing to the first rank ahead of David Reinbacher, Ivan Demidov provides the organization with a hopeful top-line winger for the future. With Demidov and Reinbacher - one and two, the Habs have two big reasons to be excited for the future.
In my opinion, Lane Hutson should slot in ahead of Reinbacher, but the NHL.com staff is the epitome of sports writing and analysis. Anyways, if Hutson is ranked third, then the Canadiens have a pretty deep top three prospects. Logan Mailloux, another very talented defenseman sits at fourth, as the third defender of the group and Owen Beck rounds out the top five.
Top prospects for Montreal Canadienshttps://t.co/7ELtN5YKq0
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) August 15, 2024
I love Beck and think that he has immense potential to be a very important top nine centre for the Habs for a long time. But I do think that Michael Hage should rank ahead of him, but that is of course just based on differing opinions. Hage is a few seasons away and Beck is likely a year or less away from playing for the Canadiens.
The top five gives so much hope
Demidov is one of the best prospects in the league and I expect when he makes his rookie debut, he should be in the conversation for the Calder Trophy. He provides the Habs with a dynamic forward, who has the potential to fill a winger role on the top line. Not only is he super talented, but he engages in all three zones and competes hard with and without the puck on his stick.
Hutson showed a bit of what we can expect from him during his rookie season with the Habs, but it was just a glimpse. He isn't going to push the opposition around or be on shutdown defence top 10 highlight packages. But he does cut plays off quickly, uses his skating to get out of trouble and his vision and decision-making will make him a tough guy to match up with.
Reinbacher is the toughest of all to assess because he has talent, poise and high hockey IQ for a young defender. The offense is the hardest thing to predict and assess, but I think he has top-four potential immediately, but will end up being a top-pairing defenseman when all is said and done. He can skate like the wind, with beautiful strides, he has great vision and I expect that he is going to show what he can do offensively this upcoming season.
Mailloux had a strong showing during his debut professional season with the Laval Rocket and proved that he can keep up against talented pro-forwards. He skates quickly and efficiently, not wasting energy for nothing and loves to get into the mix on offence. I think his defensive deficiencies will limit his potential, but his offensive strengths make him an ideal option for a future top-four NHL role.
Beck could probably make a case right now to be the Rocket's number-one centre in his debut season of professional hockey. He does all of the little things right and if he produced offense more naturally he would probably be a safe bet to become a top-six potential NHL centre. But he is capable of giving the Habs a strong group of top-three centres and I think he will become a very good penalty killer when he reaches the NHL.