Last week’s line-up – Mooney, Fowler and Zharovsky – occupied positions 9 to 7, but there was some doubt as to whether they would actually become impact players. After all, we’re talking about 4th-, 3rd- and 2nd-round picks, respectively. On average, such prospects have less than a 40% chance of making it in the NHL! Even if we were willing to give them more, nothing is certain for them. The prospects we’re presenting to you this week are in a different league altogether. In Bolduc (17th, 2021), Hage (21st, 2024) and Reinbacher (5th, 2023), we’re dealing with first-round picks whose talent has never been in doubt.
These three players – who would delight many an organization as the best prospects in their pool – are either already in the NHL or on the verge of settling in for good within the next year. They are also destined to play prominent roles at a very young age in Montreal, and it would be very surprising to find them in a transaction in the next few years…[content-ads]6. Zachary Bolduc | AG/C | 22 years old | 17th, 2021Potential: 34.5/40 Insurance: 16/20 Use value, utility, rarity: 23/30 Trade value: 7.0/10 Total: 80.5/100That a prospect with as much potential as Bolduc, a player who could already be called an “impact”, a new integral piece of the Montreal core, should find himself as “low” as 6th in this kind of ranking is once again highly indicative of the quality of the Habs’ bank of prospects.
With his 97 games of NHL experience (45 points), Bolduc would probably be the best prospect for around 20% of NHL teams. We’re talking about a double 50-goal scorer in junior and a player who greatly impressed Jeff Gorton with the Océanic at 16, when he scored 30 goals alongside Alexis Lafrenière.
Of course, he’s not in the same league as Ovechkin (2.29) and Draisaitl (2.04), but Bolduc is in pretty good company when it comes to goals scored per 60 minutes.
[content-ads]He also clearly stood out among the rookies, finishing the 24-25 season strong.
It’s a pretty convincing final sample of 26 games. With Caufield (1.5) and Laine (1.61) also pretty good 60-minute scorers, it’s starting to add up to a couple of forwards with exceptional shots in Montreal. Not a bad thing… And it’s not as if Suzuki, Slafkovsky and Demidov have chick shots… The great thing about Bolduc, 22 years old, 19 goals, 17 assists in 72 games last year in St. Louis, is that we also know a little more about what to expect from him. There’s still potential to be unlocked, but it’s not a “project” or a Kirby Dach gamble, let’s say. We’ve also learned that the Blues weren’t happy to let him go in exchange for Logan Mailloux. It was Kent Hughes who forced Doug Armstrong’s hand and made Bolduc a condition sine qua none for the acquisition of his young right-handed defenseman… [content-ads]That said, while he’s obviously thrilled by the idea of playing for the Canadiens, the native of Trois-Rivières didn’t leave St. Louis in total joy. He’s aware of what playing for the Habs means for a promising young Québécois, and he makes no secret of the fact that he’s a little nervous about it. His scoring talent means that he comes to town with a few more expectations than, say, Phillip Danault did back in the day. We’ll see what happens with Patrik Laine (who seems to be in pretty good shape this summer), but the Habs seem to be planning to use Bolduc on their top-six in the short to medium term, as well as keeping him on one of their powerplay units. He could even be tried out at center if Dach and Newhook have trouble, even if only in the face-off circle.
Finally, we’re still stunned that the Habs were able to get their hands on a young, established player of Bolduc’s calibre in return for Mailloux, who has never been given more than 6.5/10 in terms of trade value and whose assurance of reaching his full potential remains fairly nebulous..
We’ll have to wait and see what happens to the Ontarian, but if Bolduc becomes an annual 25-30 goal scorer while bringing a power forward and a complete game to the table every night, there’s a chance Hughes and Gorton could make a very big splash here.content-ads]5. Michael Hage | C | 19 years old | 21st, 2024Potential: 35/40 Insurance: 15/20 Use value, utility, rarity: 23.5/30 Trade value: 8/10 Total: 81.5/100At the pace the Habs’ summer is going in terms of signings and trades for forward players, we’re led to believe that the Habs still hold Michael Hage in very high regard, perhaps even more so than last year at this time.
Indeed, there’s every reason to believe that Hughes and Gorton aren’t too keen on blocking the long-term path to second-line center for this prospect, who, while not a regular headline-grabber, did dazzle the gallery in Michigan last season.
It’s hard to say whether Hage’s potential is greater than Bolduc’s, but in the long term, as a likely second-line center, we think Hage’s importance, his overall usefulness to the Habs, is slightly greater than that of the Québécois.
Yes, Zachary Bolduc may have a chance of getting a shot at center, or at least taking face-offs as a left-handed player, but we don’t get the impression that the organization necessarily saw him as a long-term solution at center when they acquired him.
The last time Bolduc played center, he was 16… Then, no one is going to believe that 25-year-old Joe Veleno, “rich” with a one-year contract, represents a big threat to Hage’s future.
[content-ads]In the same vein, the Habs seem in no hurry to offer a contract extension to Patrik Laine, another right-hander who can play on the top-six and powerplay… Consider also that, in addition to not retaining their 16th and 17th picks for a chance to draft centers like Cootes and Reshny, the forwards drafted by the Habs, Zharovsky, Paupanekis and Mooney, don’t seem destined to fill the same roles as Hage.
Here again, no one sees them as potential2nd-line centers… Finally, the organization seems ready to give Kirby Dach another chance at2nd-line center in 2025-2026, but they were careful not to offer him a contract extension this summer… In short, without saying that they’re preparing a cozy bed with feather pillows at 2nd-line center for Hage, they’re not doing anything to stand in his way, quite the contrary.
While we’d probably prefer him to be left-handed, it’s a sign of respect for his potential as an offensive center. It’s a sign that he’s a very important prospect for the Habs. By way of comparison, the same kind of “respect” didn’t seem to be shown to Jacob Fowler when another goaltender, Arseny Radkov (82nd), was selected relatively early in the draft. Hage will now return to Michigan for a second and final year, to continue his development with a more powerful team than last year. The university ranks seem to have been an excellent choice to help him build muscle mass. Hage was quite imposing on the ice in Brossard at the last development camp. From the tall, lanky player he was last year, he has become a much more powerful, massive player on the ice, without losing any of his agility or speed. content-ads]
In that sense, we’ll be the last ones surprised if Hage joins the Habs next spring, putting an end to his university career. The young man has been dreaming of this day since he was a kid, and he’ll be physically and tactically ready to take that step. That said, if the Habs aren’t in the playoff race and the Rocket need his services instead, a little detour to Laval wouldn’t be a bad thing. But, if that were the case, Rocket fans shouldn’t have the chance to spy on him for too long at Place Bell. I believe Hage will have a significant impact with the Habs well before five years, and only a catastrophe in his development could prevent him from being a full-time member of the Canadiens in 2026-2027[content-ads]A catastrophe… or a trade?
In his quest to fill the2nd center spot, Hage has no doubt already been in several discussions between Hughes and his counterparts over the past few months, and this could continue throughout the coming season… But rest assured of one thing, if Hage were ever to leave the organization he dreams of day and night before being able to play a single game in it, it would be for a return of the grandest magnitude. His potential is high, the assurance that he’ll reach it is pretty good, and his anticipated usefulness to the Habs is increasingly clear. Hage is worth a lot. Very expensive.4. David Reinbacher | DD | 20 years old | 5th, 2023 | Last ranking: 3rdPotential: 35/40 Insurance: 15.5/20 Use value, utility, rarity: 24.5/30 Trade value: 8.5/10 Total: 83.5/100This is already David Reinbacher’s third appearance in this ranking. After being ranked first by dusts in 2023 and then dropping to third last year, this fall to fourth shouldn’t be seen as a disavowal of him.
It’s more the competition in front of him and the arrival of a certain Dobson that explains it all. content-ads]Our assessment of Reinbacher’s potential as such hasn’t changed much. He’s still that big, strong, mobile defender who excels defensively and is capable of effectively rebounding and supporting the attack. He’s also developed an absolutely devastating catch-and-shoot, an element not really present in his game before last season.
In the minds of the Habs and many analysts, he clearly won his battle against Logan Mailloux by clearly dominating him in terms of his reading of the game in his territory, the foundation for any aspiring NHL defenseman.
And I was always among those who believed that Reinbacher had little to envy Mailloux offensively… A little less flashy, but more intelligent and calculated.
Well, now that all those nice things have been said, there’s still the famous question of knee injuries… A problem that already existed during his draft year and that always seems to resurface in one way or another since then… We thought he’d recovered quickly and quite well from his surgery last fall, with a return to action in February in Laval. That said, nobody seemed too worried about it. But that didn’t stop Montreal from making the spectacular acquisition of Noah Dobson, only 25 years old, who takes a lot of pressure off Reinbacher’s knees and shoulders.
[content-ads]Many, including myself, are still surprised that Hughes didn’t have to give up “Reino” to get Dobson. Did the Isles prefer picks 16 and 17 to the possibility of acquiring Reinbacher? Was the Habs desperate for him, or would they have been willing to part with the young right-hander? Marco D’Amico says no…
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Whatever the case, Reinbacher won’t have to become that 24-25+ minute first-pair defenseman very early in his career. Instead, he’ll be able to quietly take his place in the NHL, without too much pressure, perhaps as early as October, perhaps later in the season, on a third or second pair in situations that are favorable to him.
In any case, whether we play him with Hutson, Guhle or Matheson, there wouldn’t be too many bad choices in there… When the time comes, he’ll move ahead of Struble and Xhekaj in the team hierarchy pretty quickly. That said, sooner or later, Lane Hutson is likely to be the player who will have his best moments in Montreal; a combo that must already have been on the minds of management at No. 5 in June 2023.when you think of the turnaround in Filip Hronek’s career when he was paired with Quinn Hughes in Vancouver, you can’t help but salivate when you think of what a defenseman with much higher overall potential like Reinbacher could become alongside Hutson…
A kind of right-handed Jacob Slavin? Not impossible… Well, if we’re going to say something about his trade value, the Mailloux-for-Bolduc trade already tells us a lot: talented young right-handed defensemen are worth a fortune on the open market.
And if you think that Reinbacher was ahead of Mailloux for around 95% of NHL executives at the time of the latter’s trade, imagine the Austrian’s value. And that value will rise even higher once he’s proven himself in Montreal. All that’s left is for those pesky knees to hold up
With the arrival of Dobson and some nice organizational depth on the blue line, Reinbacher isn’t necessarily an untouchable.
ConclusionIn Bolduc, Hage and Reinbacher, you have three prospects destined to become key players in the Montreal core, players who we expect to be better than some of the current players, skaters who will quickly make the Habs a deeper and better team.
In their case, we don’t think we’re talking about future “star” players in the strongest sense of the word, but at the very least, we can expect high-quality “impact players”. To think we haven’t even talked about our final line: Hutson, Slavkovsky and Demidov, who are all still “prospects” for us, as we’ve already explained on numerous occasions.We’ll let you think about that this week, and we’re curious to know who you’d put in the first rank!Let’s talk about it on FB and Twitter/X if you like!
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Coaches love his all-around game, and if his development stays on track, he could push for the No. 2 pick… maybe even… 
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