Updated top five prospects - #5: Michael Hage
Michael Hage rushes the puck with dynamic skating and his quick twitch hands make him a threat to create offence each time he has the puck.
The Montreal Canadiens had a great first round at the 2024 NHL Draft.
One that significantly improved their prospect pool, so much so that their top five prospects shuffled significantly. The direction of the rebuild has been steadily forward and the drafting is a big reason why. With development taking such precedence, the Canadiens are looking like a safe bet to become a problem for the league soon enough.
As mentioned, the prospect pool got some fine new additions. The top five in the organization have two new additions, who, in my opinion will be impact players for a long time. I can’t help but think that Kent Hughes is very pleased with the talent he has accumulated.
Without further ado, let's dive into the post-2024 draft top five prospects. We’ll start at five and work our way through to one. Number five is a guy who Kent Hughes coveted, promoting the Habs general manager to trade up for pick 21 to select him.
Michael Hage
Michael Hage has deep roots in Montreal - both his Mom and Dad are from the area. While Hage played for the Chicago Steel in the United States Hockey League, he is very familiar with the Canadiens, having grown up a fan of the team. He is a skilled forward who skates like the wind and has the potential to become a top-six forward for the Canadiens in the future.
His draft-plus-one season will come in the NCAA with the University of Michigan Wolverines, a program that has pumped out some quality NHL players. Quinn Hughes, Adam Fantilli and Owen Power are just a few - so it is easy to have high hopes for Hage's development. After a great draft year in the USHL with the Chicago Steel, which saw the Mississauga, Ontario native post 75 points through 54 games, Hage is primed for a big freshman year.
Hage's combo of speedy skating, high-end puck skills and a sneaky release that catches goalies off guard will be interesting to watch in the college ranks. If you pair those tangibles with the level of talent he will play alongside (Rutger McGroarty, William Whitelaw and Jacob Truscott), it's a fair bet that Hage will have a great start to his time as a Habs prospect. In any other prospect pool, Hage might have been the top guy, but Montreal has put together a very good group of prospects - each of the top five with very high NHL potential.
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