Montreal’s prospect depth may still be drawing plenty of praise, but The Athletic’s latest NHL Top 100 suggests the Canadiens are getting a little less respect than expected.
Scott Wheeler’s new rankings, released after the NHL Draft wrapped up a few weeks ago, put Gavin McKenna at No. 1, with Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 and Chase Reid at No. 5.
The top of the list is packed with familiar recent draft names. What stands out more is how few Canadiens made the cut.
Montreal landed just three skaters in Wheeler’s Top 100: Michael Hage at 21st, Alexander Zharovsky at 33rd and David Reinbacher at 48th. That’s not a huge number for a team often described as having a deep system, but all three were placed in the top half of the rankings, which says plenty about how highly they’re still viewed. Reinbacher also appears to be the closest of the group to reaching the NHL.
The bigger surprise is who got left out.
Two Montreal prospects stand out as clear omissions: Bryce Pickford and Adam Engstrom. Pickford has put together two highly productive WHL seasons, and last year he piled up 45 goals and 38 assists in 55 games. He kept rolling in the playoffs too, adding 12 points in 15 games, and was named CHL Defenceman of the Year.
Engstrom’s case is different, but just as compelling. He spent this past season bouncing between the AHL and NHL and appeared in 15 games with the Canadiens. Heading into training camp, he should be in the mix with Reinbacher and other Montreal blueliners for one of the final spots on the roster.
Both players look like they belonged somewhere in the final 20 of this Top 100, and they could make that case even louder this season if Engstrom sticks in the NHL and Pickford makes the jump to Laval.
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The ripple effect is where things get interesting. Oliver Kapanen would be pushed into the second-line center job, flanked by Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov, which gives the Canadiens a look that is easy to imagine on paper but harder to project in practice. The appeal is obvious, but so are the questions about how the pieces fit, what roles each player can handle, and whether Montreal would be better served by making that kind of bet now. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Suddenly Have A Real Opening Night Edge Over Toronto
The NHL has once again lined up Montreal and Toronto for the opener, marking the seventh straight season the Canadiens will start against the Maple Leafs. This one feels a little different, though, because Toronto spent the offseason remaking itself from the top down, with a new general manager, a new coach and a noticeable wave of roster change, while Montreal is mostly coming back with the group that already knows what it can be together.
For the Canadiens, that continuity matters. They are not walking into a brand-new situation so much as a familiar one against a rival still sorting out its identity, and that gives Montreal a chance to lean on stability right away. The Leafs have added fresh faces and new voices, but there is still one major question hanging over their side of the matchup, and it could shape how much of an edge Montreal really has when the season opens. [Read more 🡒]