The Canadian is trying to build his club through youth and injuries.
This isn’t always easy, as my colleague Maxime Truman pointed out this morning in his paper of the day, since building with youth takes into account the ups and downs of player development.
And right now, the Canadiens’ roller coaster is in full swing.
We can ask ourselves whether Jeff Gorton has taken too much pressure off his players , and we can raise many theories, but above all we have to ask ourselves whether the CH has enough top talent.
And according to TSN’s analysis, we think they don’t.
TSN has ranked the top 50 players (and prospects who belong to a team) aged 23 and under… and the Habs have just one representative in the group. Cole Caufield, who is not having the season of his career, is ranked eighth, which is very good.
This week, #TSNHockey unveils and ranks its annual ‘Core 4’ NHL-affiliated players and prospects aged 23 or younger…
Today, a look at the Top 50 under the age of 24, headlined by Connor Bedard and the Hughes brothers: https://t.co/XTkvX7hStF
– TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) November 22, 2023
But behind Caufield? Nothing.
This means that Kaiden Guhle, Joshua Roy, Juraj Slafkovsky and David Reinbacher, to name but a few, are not included in the countdown. Nick Suzuki is 24 years old and too old for the ranking.
But in this ranking where the three Hughes brothers are in the top-13 (!), there are still some names of note for Canadiens fans.
Which ones? These are :
15: Logan Cooley, drafted after Slaf
16: Matvei Michkov, drafted after Reinbacher
17: Cutter Gauthier, drafted after Slaf
34: Pavel Mintyukov, drafted after Slaf
37 : Kevin Korchinski, drafted after Slaf
40: Matthew Poitras, drafted after Slaf, Filip Mesar and Owen Beck
41 : Jimmy Snuggerud, drafted after Slaf
42: Ryan Leonard, drafted after Reinbacher
43: Oliver Moore, drafted after Reinbacher
44 : David Jiricek, drafted after Slaf
45: Tom Willander, drafted after Reinbacher
46: Dmitry Simashev, drafted after Reinbacher
47: Yaroslav Askarov, whom the Habs could have acquired by trading for (among other things) 2023 pick #5
48: Jagger Firkus, drafted after Slaf, Mesar and Beck
Obviously, the point here isn’t to point out every mistake made by management, because the rankings of 18- and 19-year-olds can change very, very often over the next few years. But it hits home, doesn’t it?
It’s worth noting that all four players drafted before David Reinbacher in 2023 are in the top-50.
It’s also worth noting that Slaf’s quiet start to the season can’t help his cause. Reinbacher’s injury may not have helped his cause either.
But it takes young talent, whether it’s developing guys or getting them. That’s an observation.
In gusts
– Speaking of young talent.
Last week, the Dodgers’ name surfaced.
One wonders if the Blue Jays plan to keep the star. https://t.co/HUR74yH9SH
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) November 22, 2023
– Still.
Sean Monahan will play his 700th NHL game tonight @CanadiensMTL @TVASports
– Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) November 22, 2023
– He could play for the Tigres.
Tristan Luneau @AnaheimDucks will play a 3rd game in the @NHL tonight against the @CanadiensMTL. The defenseman will probably no longer play for the @OlympiquesGAT. A @LHJMQ club is ahead of schedule to secure his services after the World Junior Championship. https://t.co/1pajw7IEhQ
– jf plante (@jfplante_Droit) November 22, 2023
– The Wild don’t plan to change coaches just yet.
Chris Johnston on Insider Trading says Dean Evason is not in imminent danger of losing his job at the moment, management has looked at the roster and are saying it’s not a trade away from being fixed, it’s not a coaching change from being fixed, it’s up to the team’s best players
– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) November 22, 2023
– The CH, who will play tonight in Anaheim (10pm), will train this morning. For the Rocket, Amerks are on the menu at 7pm.
#Habs will have an 11:30am PT (2:30pm ET) morning skate at the Honda Center ahead of tonight’s game vs. #FlyTogether
– Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) November 22, 2023
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