Best U23 players: Canadiens’ bank ranked 9th in the NHL

The Montreal Canadiens’ relief is interesting on several levels.

We know just how well-endowed the club is on defense, because Martin St-Louis’ squad already includes several young players.

And that’s without mentioning the youngsters currently in Laval or the minors.

But on the attack, it’s a little slimmer. Joshua Roy and Owen Beck are seen as good prospects, and the fact that Filip Mesar is currently dominating the OHL helps his rating.

Chris Peters, a former CBS Sports and ESPN employee who specializes in prospects, evaluated each team’s players aged 23 and under (at the start of the season) and gave them a grade for talent and potential.

Players are classified in the following categories: AAA (superstar), AA (elite), A (starting goalie, top pair defenseman, top line forward), B (NHL goalie, top 4 defenseman, top 6 forward) or C (backup goalie, depth defenseman, 3rd or 4th trio forward).

It looks like this for the Habs:

Cole Caufield (AA)
Kaiden Guhle (B)
Juraj Slafkovsky (B)
David Reinbacher (B)
Joshua Roy (B)
Lane Hutson (B)
Kirby Dach (B)
Owen Beck (B)
Logan Mailloux (B)

Cole Caufield is the only one with a higher grade than “B”. The list is the stuff of gossip, as is Craig Button’s, who forgot to include Kaiden Guhle among the top 50 players / prospects aged 23 and over.

This week, #TSNHockey unveils and ranks its annual ‘Core 4’ NHL-affiliated players and prospects aged 23 or younger…

Today, we rank all 32 NHL teams in our U-24 list of players and organizational prospects, headlined by the @BuffaloSabres & @Canucks: https://t.co/5ALNvQF710

– TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) November 23, 2023

Interestingly, Jacob Fowler and Filip Mesar are not among them…

And it’s also interesting to note that Kriby Dach is 7th in Chris Peters ‘ rankings.

Yet Dach has proven himself in the National League, unlike David Reinbacher or Joshua Roy. In a nutshell.

The important thing for the Habs organization is to find a way for these players to develop to their full potential. In two or three years’ time, the goal will be to see them all shine in the NHL, even if some of them may find themselves in other parts of the world by then.

They may not all be able to play for the Habs, because there aren’t 39 NHL roster spots. But if that’s the case, in the end…

It’s understandable that the Habs have drafted well in recent years, which hasn’t always been the case over the past twenty years.

In gusto

– Florian Xhekaj continues to make news for all the right reasons.

#GoHabsGo prospect Florian Xhekaj is scoring end-to-end goals. Deflection goals. Ugly goals. Goals from high-danger areas. Goals from pure snipes.

He’s doing it all this season, and maintaining close to a point-per-game pace. https://t.co/yC2n8a4M53

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 24, 2023

– Do you agree?

Strange, hard-to-justify decisions by Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louishttps://t.co/ruQnScJQwf

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) November 24, 2023

– Why not! It was time to celebrate, after all.

We gave out gin tonics to Als players to at the Grey Cup parade pic.twitter.com/6YeCtk9yCW

– HFTV (@HFTVSports) November 24, 2023

– The images are magnificent.

Maurice Richard and the Montreal Canadiens playing the Detroit Red Wings in 1953. credit: nfb pic.twitter.com/aIP7ywufWv

– Morgan Cameron Ross (@Morgan_C_Ross) November 23, 2023

– Well done.

Sinclair, Schmidt and McLeod will be honored in Vancouver https://t.co/jWL5tkZ4cA

– Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) November 24, 2023

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