As we all know, the Montreal Canadiens have one of the NHL’s finest banks of prospects.
With the latest selection of Ivan Demidov, coupled with David Reinbacher, Lane Hutson, Michael Hage, Jacob Fowler and all the other young players established with the club, the future seems to be in good hands.
The Habs can count on a very young core of players already established in the big league.
These include Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj, all of whom are 23 or younger.
Not to mention team captain Nick Suzuki, who is only 24.
In short, the Tricolore are still hoping to pick up at least one more attacking prospect to solidify their top-6.
Steven Ellis recently spoke to his readers about the Flanelle.
Doing an AMA on @HabsOnReddit now, so come join: https://t.co/oE50fliqLk
– Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) July 26, 2024
One of the questions asked was what would be the most glaring hole in the Habs prospect pool.
To that, Ellis replied that they’d need more energetic forwards for depth.
“You don’t always need those players with 20-30 goal potential. You want players who bring energy, who hit and play well defensively every time they’re there like their careers are on the line… Someone like Florian Xhekaj.” – Steven Ellis
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Arber Xhekaj’s little brother is a 4ᵉ round pick, so the chances of him becoming a regular NHL player are pretty slim.
However, if Arber’s sudden progression is anything to go by, anything is possible for Florian.
And players like him are a dime a dozen, especially on the back three.
Michael Pezzetta has a similar style to what Ellis described, but his potential to be a regular is limited.
He remains, however, an excellent option as a 13ᵉ forward.
Obviously, this type of player can be made available by lower-cost transaction, or even by waivers.
But every now and then, nuggets emerge, much as Arber Xhekaj was for the defensive brigade in front of a rare gem, although he certainly won’t be a star.
Florian probably won’t become a top-6 player, but he can definitely bring his share of benefits by playing on the bottom-6.
Overtime
– The Tricolore head coach believes that Stamkos’ departure will be beneficial for him.
Former teammate Martin St. Louis comments on Steven Stamkos’ exit from the #GoBolts
“For me, the wound was open and I had to go play. It didn’t have time to close.”
MORE ⤵️ 🏒@TheHockeyNews https://t.co/QhTSKxLD1k
– Diandra Loux (@Diandra_loux) July 26, 2024
– It’s going to be a great clash
Sean O’Malley will defend his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili in the #NocheUFC main event, Dana White announced 🚨 pic.twitter.com/JaxuMz173g
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 27, 2024
– I can’t wait to see this duo in action.
🇨🇦Auger-Aliassime pumped to play #Olympics doubles with 🇨🇦Raonic
“He’s been in & out of the tour the last few years so I feel like we forget how good he really was, you know, No. 3 in the world, Slam finalist. We talk about the serve, but he’s very smart“https://t.co/7zWalKdJQe
– Mark Masters (@markhmasters) July 27, 2024