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Canadiens: third-best NHL prospect bank

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 28: Ivan Demidov is selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the fifth overall pick during the first round of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Sphere on June 28, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

For almost three years now, the Canadiens have been going through a difficult period for their fans: a rebuilding process. The beginning of a rebuild is always painful, both for the members of the organization and for the fans.

Except that, as the process progresses, fans become more and more excited to see prospects with enormous potential join the team. The best example is the fan reaction when the Canadiens drafted Ivan Demidov.

Nobody screamed like that for Jarred Tinordi or Nikita Scherbak….

All this to say that the Canadiens’ prospect bank is extremely well-stocked, so much so that it ranks third among the NHL’s best prospect banks, according to a ranking by Byron Bader, a specialist in advanced statistics who sometimes works with The Athletic, TSN and Sportsnet.

That’s excellent, but the Canadiens were in second place in this ranking before the draft. Bader attributes this decline to the fact that the Blackhawks had an excellent 2024 draft.

In first place, no one can overtake the Anaheim Ducks. Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger and Beckett Sennecke form the NHL’s best bank of prospects by far, even if Anaheim’s draft was decent, but nothing more.

Let’s get back to the Canadiens, who made an excellent choice with Ivan Demidov, according to Byron Bader.

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He even thinks that the Canadiens were very close to the number one spot on this list, and that this bank is no longer lacking anything. Of course, Kent Hughes probably thinks otherwise, and will be looking for more pieces over the next few years.

Let’s not forget that Bader counts Michael Hage as one of the Canadiens’ top prospects at the moment, ranking him fourth behind Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson and David Reinbacher.

Joshua Roy rounds out the top 5 prospects.

The Canadiens could be higher in this ranking if Juraj Slafkovsky were considered a prospect, but Bader’s system only counts players who have played 100 games or less in the NHL. Third place is still incredible.

It’s hard to explain quickly how the ranking works, but Bader has left some explanations on X. Here they are.

With a ton more picks in the upcoming draft, Kent Hughes’ bank of prospects could get even bigger. Maybe it’ll reach the top spot next year.

Overtime

– A lot of pressure out there.

– He deserves it.

– He’s in trouble with the law.

– Hamilton isn’t done.

– France’s team manager has had enough.