Over the past few days, Corey Pronman (The Athletic) has taken to ranking the NHL’s top prospect banks. We were obviously eager to see where the CH, which relies on young people for the rest of things, would rank.
Note that it takes into account all young people aged 22 and under. So that includes guys already in the NHL.
The NHL Pipeline Rankings, a look at the best collection of NHL players and prospects under the age of 23 return for the 2022-23 edition and will be rolled out throughout this week: https://t.co/ejb5n1IJ4P
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) August 22, 2022
And the result is that the Canadiens’ youth bank seems quite good if we compare it to the others since in its ranking, Montreal is ranked seventh in the entire NHL right now. The CH is behind the Sabres, Wings, Devils, Ducks, Sens and Hurricanes.
Note that last year, the Canadian was in 12th place.
The fact that the CH got an A+ from Pronman in the repechage partly explains the increase since, despite Nick Suzuki’s departure from the rankings, the CH went up.
The additions of the first four selections of 2022 (Juraj Slafkovsky, Filip Mesar Owen Beck and Lane Hutson) have helped, but that also includes the arrival of Kirby Dach, 21 years old.
It’s interesting to note the order in which the analyst ranked the prospects. Why? Because there are surprises. Some players didn’t break into Pronman’s top-15 and went to settle in the honorable mentions at the end of the text.
Here is, before continuing, his top-15.
- Juraj Slafkovsky
- Cole Caufield
- Kirby Roof
- Kaiden Guhle
- Justin Barron
- Lane Hutson
- Joshua Roy
- Philip Mesar
- Miguel Tourigny
- Jan Mysak
- Jordan Harris
- Owen Beck
- Mattias Norlinder
- Riley Kidney
- Sean Farrell
First, we note that Logan Mailloux and Jesse Ylonen are not in the journalist’s top-15. The contractual uncertainty of the first and the inconstancy of the second are factors that have been taken into account.
It also demonstrates the depth of the club’s prospect bank.
When we look at the club’s top-5, we see five guys who should play games with the Canadiens this year. Slafkovsky, Caufield and Dach should even be among the best scorers in CH with Nick Suzuki, who is barely too old for this ranking.
Yes, the CH will bet on its young people.
Without too much surprise, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki should be the best scorers of the CH in 22-23 → https://t.co/RvHJz7p8ba
— DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) August 23, 2022
Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron, who complete the top-5, should also be entitled to big minutes in the NHL and the same goes for Jordan Harris, ranked a bit lower. Jan Mysak and Mattias Norlinder will also be in the mix.
I notice the fact that Lane Hutson was ranked ahead of Mesar and Beck and Joshua Roy found himself in seventh place. Offensive upside is clearly important to Pronman since Mesar is more of a responsible guy with the puck.
I did not expect to see Miguël Tourigny ninth in the standings, which is fourth among the hopes drafted in 2022. The good news? Pronman sees in him a dynamic and brilliant prospect on the ice who can play in the NHL. That said, his size works once morest him.
For a complete analysis, I invite you once more to read what Pronman had to say regarding each hope. I also invite you to follow what colleague Tony Patoine has to say in his ranking of the 12 best hopes of CH… and my little finger tells me that a new text is just in the oven.
A lot of
“I hope we can shed some light on this.
Sexual assault at WJC 2003: police know at least two names
These two participants would later have reached the NHL, according to CBC.https://t.co/AjRJkzarlT
— Charles Lalande (@CharlesLalande_) August 25, 2022
– With reason.
On tonight’s episode of @HockeyTomorrow Danny Brière brought us back to the 2014 #Habs cup run.
“If Carey Price didn’t get injured in game 1 of the ECF vs the Rangers, I still feel like we would have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.”
– @DannyBriere48https://t.co/TaCUAFNva1
— Peter Alper (@PeteAlper) August 25, 2022
– Six wins in seven games, that gives you a club.
John Schneider’s men will go for the sweep tonight. https://t.co/TLNyqwohkd
— Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) August 25, 2022
– What a feat!
Elliott Mondou | In the big league at 21 https://t.co/h4qA0KvZbP
– The Sports Press (@LaPresse_Sports) August 25, 2022
– Could the Capitals owner buy the Nationals?
Another suitor in #Nationals possible sale emerged this weekhttps://t.co/VNwcazvVq8 pic.twitter.com/Orn3DHDB0p
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) August 25, 2022