The Habs have been rebuilding for several years now. During this period, the club has acquired Juraj Slafkovský, David Reinbacher, Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov, among others, with the aim of building a quality core for the future.
There have been many others, but these are the main names who, in an ideal world, will guide the Canadian of tomorrow.
That said, we shouldn’t forget that some of the pieces were already in place during the Marc Bergevin era. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Kaiden Guhle, who are already big hitters in town, were acquired by the former administration.
And Nicolas Cloutier (TVA Sports) agrees, publishing his ranking of the NHL’s best players 25 and under.
The result? The Habs are represented three times: Suzuki (11th), Caufield (19th) and Slafkovský (21st) are all present.
Here’s a very unscientific and, above all, very arbitrary exercise I’ve been working on over the past few weeks: the NHL’s top 25 players aged 25 and under.
Confidence: I had no idea where to rank Nico Hischier. https://t.co/kO9JiNAKme
– Nicolas Cloutier (@NCloutierTVA) July 23, 2024
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Of course, when you consider that these three guys already form a solid first line in Montreal and are already signed long-term, it just goes to show that the Habs already have a solid base on which to build, a base to which they can add Guhle, Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook, among others.
And when you consider that guys like Demidov, Hutson, Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux, who are great prospects for the organization, are also promising youngsters, it reinforces this perception.
That said, the ranking in question led to an interesting debate, with some questioning the fact that Suzuki (11th) is ranked just ahead of Tim Stützle (12th), who has a reputation for being a better offensive player than the Habs captain.
Cloutier explains his point by noting that Suzuki is a more complete guy, that he too is capable of carrying an attack (in difficult circumstances) and that he has already dominated in the playoffs.
Nick Suzuki or Tim Stutzle to build a team?
Nicolas Cloutier revisits his list of 25 players under 25 in Le Retour des sportifs. Link here: https://t.co/Sf5rtLVBGr 🔗😮💨 #NickSuzuki #TimStutzle #Canadiens #Habs #Sens #Hockey #NHL @NCloutierTVA pic.twitter.com/Zx3nkiuoZh
– BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) July 23, 2024
Nonetheless, that doesn’t change the fact that when you look at how the Habs’ youngsters stack up across the NHL, you realize that the club is really banking on a core of high-quality young players.
There’s a reason there are so many optimistic fans in town, after all.
Overtime
– What’s that?
New Zealand women’s soccer team claim they were spied on at a training session on Monday in St. Étienne by Canada Soccer via drone surveillance.
They have made an official complaint to the IOC.
Canada plays New Zeland Thursday morning 11 ET. #Paris2024https://t.co/m4VSkbwCPG– Shireen Ahmed (@_shireenahmed_) July 23, 2024
– Looking forward to it.
Kevin Hayes intends to restore his relevance: https://t.co/GWB79FXZyT
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) July 23, 2024
– Really?
It’s not a popular sentiment, though. https://t.co/Plx3WKqvIz
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) July 23, 2024