The NHL may be looking at the next potential powerhouse in the league, as the Montreal Canadiens have ascended from potential playoff darling to true contender after reaching the Eastern Conference final with a young core of developing talent.
Nick Suzuki, Noah Dobson, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson, and Ivan Demidov were all 26 or younger last season, with the latter three being 22 or younger.
The Canadiens are here to stay, and their prospect pool still has plenty of intriguing talent that should add even more firepower to their NHL lineup. Their prospect pool is still quite strong, and they should be a strong pipeline so long as they keep drafting well, as they did this year.
In our annual series, Tony Ferrari's digging into each team's top prospects, the strengths and weaknesses of its pipeline, an overview of its latest draft class and positional depth chart, and who could be next in line for an NHL chance.
Aside from some exceptions, a player who no longer holds NHL rookie eligibility is considered graduated and no longer a prospect for the purposes of these exercises.
That means the Canadiens are next in our prospect pool overview series.
INITIAL OVERVIEW OF TOP PROSPECTS
Montreal’s prospects are impressive, especially considering the depth of young talent already on the NHL roster. By the end of the season, the Habs could have nearly half of their lineup composed of players 23 or younger. Even after some of those young players step into the NHL, they will have some of the most intriguing prospects in their pipeline