#MontrealCanadiens

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Saturday Habs Headlines: Players in line for bigger things this year

Montreal Canadiens news and notes * Five players who should improve on their 2025-26 performance. [Journal de Montreal] * Lane Hutson is projected to take over as the league’s top defenceman within the next five years. [NHL.com] * Hutson and Ivan Demidov have arguably the two best-value contracts in the NHL. [Sportsnet] * Signing so many players to maximum-length contracts is something the Canadiens have in common with the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. [RDS] * Will the star players come to regret leaving so much money on the table with a rising cap? [The Athletic] Around the league and elsewhere * Anze Kopitar’s number will be retired by the Los Angeles Kings on February 24 ahead of their game versus Montreal. [NHL.com] * The Columbus Blue Jackets’ season ended on an emotional rant from head coach Rick Bowness about the urgent need for a culture change. How will the team respond in 2026-27? [NHL.com] * Columbus’s top prospects. [NHL.com] * The Hockey Hall of Fame will feature a watch co-designed by Börje Salming to honour his legacy. [NHL.com] * Taylor Hall spent his day with the Stanley Cup on Lake Muskoka. [NHL.com]

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2026 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: The Near Misses (34-26)

Introduction The past couple of years this has mostly been an extension of the Top 25, with too many players showing NHL ability to fit into the official countdown. With the six graduating NHLers, the quality isn’t quite the same this year, and more in line with what this section of players has usually been: skaters with an NHL skill or two but not the full set required to crack a roster, and some unproven goaltenders. Every one of the nine players we’ll profile here did receive at least one placement in the Top 25 from the panellists, so there is still hope for them to realize their NHL dreams. #34 Quentin Miller Goaltender – 21 – Western Michigan University (NCAA) The biggest difference between Quentin Miller and Emmett Croteau is that Miller didn’t experience a dip when his NCAA career began, and he’s simply been the more consistent goaltender throughout his development. Miller’s 2025-26 season may not have been as impressive on an individual level as his counterpart’s, but consistency is his most encouraging trait, continuing to perform as the stage gets bigger. He played 25 games in his freshman season at the University of Denver and got to hoist the championship trophy alongside fellow Habs prospect Sam Harris at the end of the season. But he did so as second fiddle to Johnny Hicks, also a freshman, who sparkled with a .957 mark on the season. Not wanting to spend his collegiate career as a backup, Miller made the decision to transfer to Western Michigan University — the team Denver had beaten in the regional finals, incidentally. There the technical goaltender will unquestionably be the starter, with a chance to have more of a role in his team’s performance as it seeks payback for last year’s playoff loss. #33 Brett Berard Left Wing – 23 – Laval Rocket (AHL) Thirty-third in the order seems too low for a player who has 48 games of NHL experience in the past two years. What gave many of the voters pause was that he didn’t hit the scoresheet once in 13 games on the goal-starved New York Rangers in 2025-26, and he also saw a drop in his AHL offence despite playing in more games. In his first two years with the Hartford Wolf Pack he produced about two points every three games, but he dropped to a half-point-per-game rate in 2025-26. It was nowhere close to the 25 goals and 23 assists he had in his first year in the minors following a three-year collegiate career. He did sustain a torn labrum in an NHL game during the 2024-25 season and played through the rest of the year, and that seems the likely cause of his poor offensive performance. We witnessed the negative impact a shoulder injury had on Cole Caufield a couple of seasons ago that heavily impacted his shot, and the same thing might be plaguing Berard. He missed time toward the end of the last AHL season with an upper-body injury as well. Hopefully the Canadiens’ medical team will fully assess him when he arrives for training camp and make sure he doesn’t have lingering issues that will bother him once again. With Joshua Roy no longer in Laval, the Rocket will need Berard’s offence to make up what was lost this off-season. The low production in 2025-26 will probably allow him to get through waivers, and should his offence return to its typical level he will slot himself high in the queue for an NHL recall. #32 Rasmus Bergqvist Defenceman – 21 – Skellefteå AIK (SHL) Offence barely factors into Rasmus Bergqvist’s game. His Elite Prospects page goes back to when he was 13 years old, and features a total of 27 goals. He hasn’t found the net in two SHL seasons, with just five assists. He has played 65 games in one of the top leagues outside the NHL, which is an accomplishment for a defenceman who just turned 21 at the end of the most recent campaign. He is the definition of a defensive defenceman who concerns himself solely with play on his own half of the ice. He became more comfortable with his talents in 2025-26, not getting overaggressive in his physicality and puck retrievals, but making sure to patrol his area and stop cycles along the boards. It was more composed and more effective, reducing his penalty minutes and ending his second professional season with a positive goal differential. The prevailing thought coming out of Montreal’s post-season showing was that the team needed to get bigger. One of the main issues was the inability to gain the puck as the opponent played it around their zone, leading to long, tiring shifts on defence. There is value in being able to pinch off a cycle along the boards and keep a forward from getting open in front of the net, and those are the things Bergqvist has focused on and begun to perfect. You would like to see him add some offence to his game just to show that he has the ability to play the puck in transition, and he will need to add more of that to complement his defensive skills to grab Montreal’s attention. #31 Aatos Koivu Right Wing – 20 – TPS (Liiga) The features of Aatos Koivu when he was drafted back in 2024 were his attention to detail on the defensive side and his elite shooting ability. In 2025-26, the most notable thing that happened during his time with Team Finland at the World Juniors was directly playing a part in two goals against in the New Year’s Eve game versus Canada and getting benched for the rest of that match and the next two. In league play, that NHL-ready shot resulted in four goals in 47 games. It’s not the case that the initial reports were inaccurate, and we saw proof of his shooting ability one year ago when he lit up the World Junior Summer Showcase. His issue seems to be finding a level of engagement to show his abilities at all times, and not even getting embarrassed on the international stage inspired him to find that in the second half of the year. I have to think a lot of voters are waiting for something to click in him to find the same drive his father Saku and uncle Mikko showed in their playing careers. Until that happens, it’s hard to regard him as a veritable NHL prospect. #30 Logan Sawyer Left Wing – 20 – Providence College (NCAA) Logan Sawyer had a fair start to his university career, producing six goals and 10 assists in 37 games, though not quite enough to move the needle on his status as a prospect. In 2025-26 he nearly doubled his offence, scoring 14 goals in 35 games for Providence College and ending one point back of John Mustard, a player chosen 11 picks earlier in the 2024 NHL Draft, for the team lead. With that production, he sees an eight-position rise from 2025. He’s not a big player, but will have the ability to pack on more than 174 pounds to his 6’1″ frame as he matures. He plays much larger than he is so that doesn’t impact his play in the NCAA. His work ethic should still help him battle bigger defenders once he turns pro, but it will take more effort to accomplish the same things he does now. I had some of the goaltenders we’ve already profiled ahead of him as well as the new AHL additions who once enjoyed the same level of production or above in college as Sawyer has shown. I wouldn’t have placed him above Sam Harris, but he was in a block of players that currently project to sit on the bubble between the AHL and NHL. #29 Alexis Cournoyer Goaltender – 21 – University of Wisconsin (NCAA) It was an eventful 2024-25 season for Alexis Cournoyer, starting out in Junior A with the Truro Bearcats and returning to the QMJHL after a one-year hiatus with the Cape Breton Eagles to end the season, posting a stellar .942 save percentage. The rapid rise caught the eye of the Nashville Predators who invited him to their development camp, but the Canadiens swooped in to select him in the fifth round of the 2025 draft. That was enough for voters to place him at 41 last year, one spot behind Miller in 40th. This time around he passes Miller in the order, jumping 12 places. Just months after playing games in Junior A he was starting games at Cornell University, showing the same level of play he had at the end of last season. He played 28 games at Cornell, and had a .915 save percentage. He’s nothing if not a journeyman, and has already opted for a new challenge, transferring to the University of Wisconsin. As was the case with Emmett Croteau, he’s switched to one of Denver’s rivals, as it was the Badgers that the Pioneers beat in the NCAA championship game. #28 Filip Eriksson Centre – 21 – Luleå HF (SHL) A great run in HockeyAllsvenskan in 2023-24 rocketed Filip Eriksson all the way up to 26 that summer before dropping last year. In 2026, he’s flirting with a place in the Top 25 once again after scoring 15 goals with Luleå in the SHL. As our Patrik Bexell pointed out in his season review, Eriksson had an uncharacteristically high shooting percentage, making him much more productive than he had been the two previous SHL campaigns. But we do have that previous performance with the Nybro Vikings that serves as evidence that such offence is possible. Offence is something that comes in flashes, disappearing in 2024-25 and even in the latter half of last season. The SHL isn’t an easy league to score in — there were two players who eclipsed the point per game mark — so tying for 21st in goals is a bit of a feat. That rank would have been much higher if he could have maintained his form throughout the season, and that will be his challenge when the new season begins in a little over a month. #27 Filip Mesar Right Wing – 22 – Laval Rocket (AHL) Filip Mesar’s steady drop from his initial debut at 10th in 2022 has stopped, but he’s still on the outside of the Top 25 for the second year in a row. He did enjoy a healthier season in Laval, playing 71 of 72 games, and that was a good sign of him adapting to the AHL, as were the nine goals he produced. He wasn’t called upon to play in the Rocket’s playoff series versus the eventual champion Toronto Marlies, and that was a bit of a sour note to end his AHL season on. He did finish his 2025-26 calendar with a place on Team Slovakia at the World Championship, and there he received more trust from his coach, playing seven games, recording three points, and seeing his ice time rise as the tournament went on. There’s little to dislike about his game. He’s a smart player who puts in the effort and has a lot of skill as a puck-mover, while displaying more in the shooting department last year. His only limitation is his size, but it is a significant one and will probably prevent him from becoming a full-time NHLer without developing strategies to battle through contact. #26 Luke Mittelstadt Defenceman – 23 – Laval Rocket (AHL) Interviews with Luke Mittelstadt’s coaches over the past couple of years always mentioned his defensive play as his main trait and something that could get him to the NHL. Perhaps it became a bit easier to believe that a 5’11” player could be an effective defenceman largely using stick skills after we watched what Lane Hutson was able to do last season in Montreal, which boosted Mittelstadt’s stock. He isn’t only a defensive player, however, showing consistent offence in his four years at the University of Minnesota with between 18 and 21 points a season. Most encouragingly, that offence followed him to the AHL when he signed both a one-year contract to play in Laval and his two-year ELC that will begin this season. He had five points in nine games to close out the regular season, and two assists in the Rocket’s brief playoff run. He was a plus-four in the best-of-five series, tied for the highest mark on the team. Now that he’s playing in Laval and can be directly compared to several of the defence prospects in the system, we will be able to get a strong read on his value relative to his peers. It’s going to be a big year for the Rocket blue-liners to establish themselves in the pecking order, but Mittelstadt’s brief debut suggests the 2023 seventh-rounder is ready for the competition with defencemen selected much earlier in their draft years. --- With the 30 players who didn’t make the cut now revealed, the official countdown of the top 25 players under the age of 25 is about to begin. The list includes NHL players, familiar prospects, and two of the new draftees, and we’ll start with an in-depth look at the 25th-ranked player on Monday. 2026 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: The Projects (42-35)

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Friday Habs Headlines: Writing their own stories

Montreal Canadiens news and notes * The Xhekaj story, from refugee roots to NHL dreams. [Instagram – UNHCR] * Three players who could surprise at training camp. [The Hockey Writers] * Will Ville Koivunen’s contract impact the Zachary Bolduc negotiations? [Journal de Montreal] * WHL players and alumni within the Canadiens prospect pool. [WHL] Around the league and elsewhere * The Pittsburgh Penguins gave Koivunen a stunningly unnecessary eight-year, $32 million contract. [The Athletic | Sportsnet] * The Philadelphia Flyers has resigned forward Nikita Grebenkin to a two-year contract with an AAV of $1.1 million. [TSN] * Gary Bettman, gambling, and taxes: What 20,000 NHL fans really think. [The Athletic] * Jacob Olofsson chooses to retire at age 26. [Aftonbladet (Swedish)] * What the Detroit Red Wings might look like with better lottery luck. [Daily Faceoff] * Kelly Hrudey has been let go by Sportsnet. [Daily Faceoff | CBC]

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2026 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: The Projects (42-35)

Introduction Getting closer to the top players in the organization, we find a group that is neither on a track to play in the NHL nor appearing hopeless to do so. These prospects have generally performed better than those we just discussed as Long Shots, with a larger base of skills to work with. Three of the players are from the 2026 NHL Draft class, but there is an equal number of off-season additions for the Laval Rocket. In both cases, they are new players to the project, which tends to make it hard to place them above players we have a few years of experience with. The two returnees in this section moved up from the last year, and some of the newcomers could experience something similar in their future. #42 Parker Trottier Forward – 18 – Regina Pats (WHL) The Canadiens made several trades of draft picks between their selection with the Philadelphia Flyers’ fourth-round pick and their own assigned sixth-rounder. At 189th, they landed Parker Trottier, who had spent the season with the U.S. National Team Development Program. There was a time when that path seemed like a golden ticket to a high draft position, but the squad hasn’t had the same quality in recent years, with just one player selected in the first round this year and the majority going in the later rounds. That’s the context required when evaluating Trottier’s draft-year performance. In USHL action he had 14 points in 24 games of his 27 points in 61 games total in the program. His overall point total ranked 11th on the team, and he was second on the roster with 78 penalty minutes. His time in the box was the result of relentless physical play as he crashed around the boards trying to win battles. That is a good base to build a game on, and Montreal will hope he can develop offensive habits to take better advantage of the battles he wins. He will work on those elements in particular following a move to the WHL this season, ready to begin a campaign with the Regina Pats before heading to Notre Dame. #41 Emmett Croteau Goaltender – 22 – Dartmouth College (NCAA) Now in his fifth year in the organization, Emmett Croteau enjoys his highest placement at 41, rising a total of 11 positions in the past two years. His transfer to Dartmouth College is proving a wise decision. Posting an .835 save percentage with Clarkson University in 2023-24, he got back above the .900 mark in the first season with his new school, and last year ended at .922, going 15-5-4 on the season. With that performance, he took over starting duties after splitting them the year prior, and made the ECAC Second All-Star Team. The sudden rise so was so strong that Croteau was mentioned as a possible trade chip in deadline deals the Canadiens were involved in. We’ve seen in recent years that the overall quality of goaltending in the NHL has been dropping, and many of this year’s post-season teams were flipping between goalies trying to find one who could make important saves. Not so long ago a position that was deemed unworthy of wasting resources on, goaltending is starting to get discussed again as a vital position, and Montreal happens to hold a number of prospects showing the potential to become NHLers, with four more yet to be profiled in this countdown. #40 Ethan Samson Defenceman – 22 – Laval Rocket (AHL) Ethan Samson didn’t even see out the entirety of his entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, traded last year by the team that used a sixth-round pick on him in 2021. His new organization, the Tampa Bay Lightning, didn’t extend him a qualifying offer at the end of the season, leaving him to become an unrestricted free agent before turning 23. With freedom to sign with any club, he chose the Canadiens on the opening day of free agency. Finishing his Junior career with 15- and 18-goal seasons in Prince George, he has been able to translate that finishing ability to the pro ranks, scoring 12 goals in 2024-25 and having five in 30 games with the Syracuse Crunch following last season’s trade. He’s generated right around two shots per game in the past two seasons, converting on about 8% of them. Samson might see Montreal as a chance to play a few NHL games, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him join the team for road trips as an extra defenceman, especially since he’s a right-shot option. #39 Hunter McKown Right Wing – 23 – Laval Rocket (AHL) Last year, Luke Tuch ranked 34th in the countdown. In 2026, his replacement comes in at 39th. Hunter McKown will turn 24 within the next two weeks, making this his one and only appearance in this project. McKown played 63 of 72 games last season for the Cleveland Monsters, contributing a total of 25 points. It wasn’t a high offensive total, but Cleveland only had four players crack the 40-point plateau despite a rather healthy roster. That was also about double the production Tuch produced in any season with Laval. McKown did score 21 goals in his final year at Colorado College, which got him a contract with Columbus in the first place. His best season as a pro came in 2024-25 with 13 goals and 18 assists, totals that both he and the Rocket will hope he can replicate in his new environment. #38 Cooper Cleaves Defenceman – 20 – Dartmouth College (NCAA) Cooper Cleaves was a third-round pick of the Canadiens, but debuts below the player Montreal selected 24 picks later. He is a two-year over-age player, set to turn 21 in January, and that played a role in the voting. The Canadiens must have seen Cleaves play in their check-ins with Croteau at Dartmouth College and liked what they saw. His offensive totals were decent, but it was his defensive play that drew interest. He’s a hard-hitting player, one of several the Habs added in reaction to their playoff experience, and he puts in the effort in his own zone. Outside of the hits and work in the defensive end, he’s not a particularly strong skater, passer, or playmaker, but gets by in those areas. Those are all places he will need to improve to have a real shot at playing in the NHL. #37 Brayden Klimpke Defenceman – 18 – Saskatoon Blades (WHL) Bayden Klimpke doesn’t have the physical game of Cleaves, nor the size of most of his classmates, but is more of a skilled player. In his draft season, he was the Saskatoon Blades’ top-scoring defenceman, and finished six assists off the team lead. With strong skating ability, he was free to dabble in all elements of being a defenceman without needing to specialize, and he has become good at every aspect, outside of hitting as a 174-pound player. He is a strong puck-mover thanks to accurate passing, a player whose hands keep up to his feet. If you could combine Klimpke and Cleaves into one package you would have a complete player, but Klimpke will need to work on the things that Cleaves excels at. He doesn’t have the frame to be a powerful hitter, but can use his mobility and stick skills to win more battles in the defensive zone, or at least pin his check to get his teammates involved in that battle. We will probably have to wait until he begins his university career a year from now to see how his defensive game really stands up. #36 Sam Harris Left Wing – 22 – University of Denver (NCAA) Last year I predicted that Harris would make the Top 25 this summer. While that didn’t happen, I still believe he’s heavily underrated by voters. In his third season with the University of Denver, he once again had 35 points. That came with eight fewer goals than the previous year which didn’t help his case for a large jump, but he was still four points off the lead on a team that was, for the second time in Harris’s tenure, NCAA champion. He may only be 5’11”, but he plays a hard style of game, not afraid to get involved with opponents. He does everything required of a bottom-six player, and that role in the NHL isn’t such a far-fetched dream. I think we would have all been satisfied with his performance if he had been a second- or third-round pick. I believe his chance to prove his NHL merits is coming, but not until after he helps take Denver on another long run looking for another title. #35 Maksymilian Szuber Defenceman – 23 – Laval Rocket (AHL) We’ll wrap up this article with another player I believe is underrated. Maksymilian Szuber has been a steady performer wherever he’s played: developing in the DEL, playing the North American pro game with the Tucson Roadrunners, or with Germany at the IIHF World Championship, an assignment he had accepted for three consecutive seasons until last year. There hasn’t been much offence on the international stage as he seems to settle into a stable defensive role for his nation (or one of them anyway; he also has Polish citizenship). There has been plenty of it when he opens up more at the AHL level, including a career-best 11 goals last season. He’s a versatile player who plays the situation needed, and generally has a positive impact whatever the required play style. Szuber will be a big help for the Rocket, especially with Marc Del Gaizo no longer on the roster. I don’t believe he will be locked into an AHL role any more than Joshua Roy, the player he was traded for, who got into multiple NHL games in each of the last three seasons. I think we’ll see Szuber in a Habs jersey at some point in 2026-27, doing whatever the conditions that lead to his recall demand. --- The final section before the official countdown begins on Monday features nine players ranked 34-26. It starts off with three players covered by about half a rank on average, and ends with a player whose exclusion from the Top 25 came down to a high-vote tiebreaker. 2026 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: The Long Shots (55-43)

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Thursday Habs Headlines: Rebuild targets worth pursuing

Montreal Canadiens news and notes * Players worth considering if Kent Hughes is serious about accelerating the rebuild. [The Sick Podcast] * Unrestricted free agent Patrik Laine could be a fit for teams looking to add offence without breaking the bank. [Montreal Gazette] * Cole Caufield is getting some well-deserved recognition, coming in ninth in the NHL Network’s ranking of wingers. [Montreal Gazette]  * Noah Dobson is the third Canadiens player to become a father in recent months. [Journal de Montreal] * Three possible PTO targets ahead of training camp. [The Hockey Writers] Around the league and elsewhere * There’s no shortage of intrigue on the Central Division’s off-season report card. [Sportsnet] * Growing into a top prospect for the 2027 NHL Draft, Alexis Joseph believes his 6-foot-4 frame gives him an edge. [NHL] * Sean Walker gave children and families a chance to focus on something beyond illness when he arrived at Southlake Health with the Stanley Cup for a special visit. [Newmarket Today] * Every hat in the Performance Columbus Hat Trick Tank tells the story of a memorable Columbus Blue Jackets hat trick. [NHL] * Alex Ovechkin isn’t ready to retire and has his sights set on a second Stanley Cup championship with the Washington Capitals. [NHL] * Detroit Red Wings owner has hired a search firm to help find Steve Yzerman’s replacement. [Sportsnet]

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Wednesday Habs Headlines: Back on The Rock

Montreal Canadiens news and notes * Alex Newhook is back in Newfoundland for the third annual Alex Newhook and Friends Golf Classic. [CBC] * What should Alexandre Carrier’s role be? [The Sick Podcast] * Looking back at a Jonathan Drouin trade that backfired from day one. [A Winning Habit] * How LJ Mooney and Timofei Runtso performed at the WJSS. [The Hockey Writers] * The top 5 Canadiens feel-good stories of 2025-26. [The Hockey Writers] * Off-season grades for the Habs and the rest of the Atlantic Division. [Sportsnet] * Ann-Renee Desbiens hasn’t exactly had time to rest this summer following the Victoire’s championship season. [La Presse] Around the league and elsewhere * Seven NHL teams in danger of being stuck in the mushy middle. [The Athletic] * Is hockey on the radio a dying art? [The Athletic] * The top five goaltenders remaining in unrestricted free agency. [ESPN] * Landon DuPont is looking forward to his next challenge. [NHL.com] * The Kingston Frontenac’s Aleks Kulemin wants his Hlinka Gretzky Cup teammates to become family. [CHL]

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2026 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: The Long Shots (55-43)

Introduction The excitement each year when we do this project is coming up with an order for the top players in the organization, with new additions and great seasons from others shifting how relative value is viewed from summer to summer. But while we all fret over who to move into the top spots, voters also make their task of ranking a high number of players easier by shifting a few players to the lowest ranks to limit the options they have to mull over higher up. Each year we like to show the full list of players in the project, first looking at those outside of the official Top 25 Under 25 to show where everyone landed. The first reveal is a block of players who are viewed to have very little chance of making it to the NHL, but the group always includes some of the newer draft prospects that no one knows enough about to put them above those who’ve been in the system for a year or two. These are the first 13 of 55 players we’ll reveal in reverse order over the next five-and-a-half weeks. #55 Daniil Sobolev Defenceman – 23 – Spartak Moscow (KHL) With Alexander Gordin no longer around, it’s defenceman Daniil Sobolev who slides to the 55th and final spot, down two places from where he finished last year. He wasn’t always locked into such a low position, making his debut in 2021 at 31st after a couple of years playing with Russian national teams and news that he was coming to North America to work on his offensive game in the OHL. His first season with the Windsor Spitfires, delayed one year by the COVID-19 pandemic, showed some promise with 17 points in 62 games, but two years later that number had only grown to 25 points with two different clubs, and he returned to Russia. Last season he played 39 games in the KHL, but had just three points and a -9 rating. His hope of becoming an offensive blue-liner didn’t come to pass, and there’s very little chance we ever see him in the NHL. #54 Dmitri Kostenko Defenceman – 23 – Amur Khabarovsk (KHL) Two rounds earlier in the 2021 NHL Draft, Montreal has selected another Russian defenceman, Dmitri Kostenko. There was a bit more offence shown by Kostenko, and he started off in this project at 28th. Unlike his compatriot and draft mate, Kostenko stayed in the Russian professional system for his development, though last year he tried his hand in Slovakia’s Extraliga. He enjoyed decent production there with 18 points in 29 games, but since it’s a league of low quality that even Slovak prospects choose not to play in, it didn’t do much for his stock, and he also falls two spots from last summer. #53 Makar Khanin Right Wing – 21 – AKM Tula Region (VHL) Perhaps the Russians in the prospect pool were inspired by Gordin’s reign at the bottom of our rankings and are racing to replace him. Players from that nation make up our final three places, and the misses aren’t limited to Marc Bergevin’s regime. In the same 2024 draft that Kent Hughes’s Canadiens absconded with Ivan Demidov, they used a seventh-round pick on Makar Khanin, who experiences the second-largest drop from 2025 to 2026, sliding eight places. The selection looked reasonable after Khanin had 27 points in 35 games in Russia’s minor league, the VHL, in his age-19 season to catch the Canadiens’ eye. The next year, he didn’t even hit that total playing in the Junior league. Last season he played a total of 19 games in the VHL, and had seven points. As slim as the hope was for a seventh-rounder to turn into an NHL player, it seems that is dashed now as he founders in the Russian system. #52 Jack Smith RW – 24 – Unsigned for 2026-27 Last year when putting this article together I explained why Jack Smith was my lowest-ranked player after he accomplished very little in the NCAA. In 2025-26, he accomplished a bit more in what what his senior season, scoring 11 goals and adding 11 assists following a transfer to Minnesota State University, Mankato. As the only NHL-drafted prospect on the roster, he still ranked fifth in offence and was a team-worst -8. While it was enough for me to move him up a few places, he falls one spot from 51st in 2025. Smith’s rights are set to expire on August 15, and it seems unlikely that the Habs will be signing him to an entry-level contract. This was going to be his last year in the project as he turns 25 next July, but his time with the Canadiens might come to an end well before next summer. #51 Mikus Vecvanags Goaltender – 20 – Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL) Mikus Vecvanags was given the chance to improve his profile last year when he made Team Latvia for the World Juniors. He was called upon for the start in the preliminary round against Finland and surrendered eight goals on 41 shots. Things were a little bit better with the Newfoundland Regiment in the QMJHL (.850 save percentage) and respectable in the BCHL with the Victoria Grizzlies (.905), and he’s set to return to Victoria this season as he prepares for the NCAA. There were seven goalies to rank this year, and that list didn’t even include Jakub Dobeš. There’s a lot of competition and several netminders who show a lot of promise, so one who struggles to achieve a .900 save percentage isn’t going to be very highly regarded, as Vecvanags’s drop of two places demonstrates. #50 Tyler Deakos Right Wing – 19 – Penticton Vees (WHL) Speaking of goalies, it was a trade of Cayden Primeau’s signing rights to the Carolina Hurricanes that netted Montreal a seventh-rounder, which ended up being the final selection in the 2026 NHL Draft after Carolina won the Stanley Cup. At 224th overall, Montreal took Tyler Deakos, an over-age winger who finished his season in the USHL. The offensive totals were good, with 15 points in 10 games with the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons before moving on to the Waterloo Black Hawks where he contributed seven goals and 10 assists in 19 games. He will play for the WHL’s Penticton Vees this year as he continues to progress. I see more of a path for him to make it to the NHL than for some of the other prospects taken earlier in Montreal’s 2026 class, and slotted him the highest of all panellists. This doesn’t feel like other selections that were either attempting to add size or fill a specific need, but more the best player available at the very end of the draft, and I believe that deviation was the right call in this case. #49 Maxon Vig Defenceman – 20 – Bemidji State University (NCAA) Montreal’s final selection in 2025 was Maxon Vig, a big defenceman from North Dakota who had also taken the USHL route and was drafted after his age-19 season. It was a strong preparation for his NCAA career, with 32 points in 62 games, and being named an alternate captain as well. Last season in the NCAA with Bemidji State he scored six goals in 36 games, somehow ending up with just one assist. He ranked sixth on teams in goals, and was a team-best +11. Given his offensive numbers and his leadership capacity — he was also captain of his high school team in his final year — he may not be destined to stay in this section with the other late-round picks. A bump in his offensive numbers in his sophomore year could come with a similar rise in this ranking next August. #48 Wesley Royston Right Wing – 18 – Owen Sound Attack (OHL) No player encapsulates the Canadiens’ focus on size in the 2026 draft more than 6’4″ right-winger Wesley Royston. The Canadiens had just made the previous selection at 189th, and opted for Royston at 190th overall. In addition to his size, he’s also a strong skater who plays a physical game. As was the case with Tyler Thorpe when he was drafted, I’m left with a question: if his physical talents are far superior to his peers, why didn’t he dominate a Junior league? Royston ended 2025-26 with 19 points in 59 games, down from his 27 points the previous year. The Owen Sound Attack had plenty of offensive players, but even if you project his offence to a typical season of about 65 games that his teammates experienced, he would have ranked about 12th in offence. The physical abilities are undeniable, but I would expect those to translate into solid offensive numbers without breaking a sweat when he’s bigger, faster, and stronger than just about every opponent he faces. Montreal’s amateur scouting staff had a dream of what he could become, but the development staff has its work cut out to turn that into reality. #47 Andrew MacNiel Defenceman – 19 – Kitchener Rangers (OHL) One of the youngest members of the 2025 NHL Draft class, Andrew MacNiel was a sixth-round pick of the Canadiens. He was part of the ongoing plan to build up the number of right-shot defenceman in the system, which you may have noticed from the previous articles has evened the count at 10 apiece in this project for those on the left and right side. He only had three points in his draft year, which perhaps was explained away by how young he was, but his second full year in the OHL came with just seven points, making him the seventh-most-productive blue-liner on the team. With that performance alone he was probably looking at a drop this year, but he battled a combination of a knee injury and a respiratory illness that required hospitalization late in the season. He returned halfway through the post-season and helped the Kitchener Rangers take the OHL title and then the Memorial Cup, a minus player in just two of the 12 games played in the toughest portion of the season. That gave him a late boost, and allowed him to finish one spot higher than a year ago. #46 Ben Merrill Centre – 20 – Boston University (NCAA) Taking an extra year to develop in the BCHL before starting his college career and producing less than half a point per game didn’t help Ben Merrill’s position last year. He rebounds in 2026 because he replicated that contribution in the NCAA, and in the strong Hockey East conference to boot. On a team loaded with NHL prospects, including Lane Hutson’s brother, Cole, Merrill finished 10th in points, but fourth in goals. He also managed to score a goal and be a +2 in the Hockey East quarter-final versus UConn that brought BU’s season to an end. The caveat is that he turned 20 early in the season so he had a bit more experience than you often see from a university freshman. It was an encouraging performance, however, and if he can improve in 2026-27 with Hutson having moved on to the NHL, he could see a big jump a year from now. #45 Jean-Samuel Daigneault Defenceman – 18 – Brantford Bulldogs (OHL) Not all the defencemen chosen this year were right-handed. Jean-Samuel Daigneault uses a left-handed stick, though it’s mostly for balance as he plays a similar style of game to fellow Habs prospect Owen Protz. He is even set to take up the place Protz vacated in the Brampton Bulldogs’ lineup in the upcoming season. The difference between the two is that Daigneault is a better skater and can catch up with attackers where Protz’s game is more about positioning and taking the simplest routes. Protz already had an OHL season under his belt when he was selected in 2024, but Daigneault’s highest level of experience is the USHL, playing 47 games for the Muskegon Lumberjacks. I think most of us would like to see how his game translates to the CHL before making any real determination on his talent, but 45th is a solid debut for a player chosen 221st in a 224-pick draft. #44 Carlos Händel Defenceman – 19 – Kölner Haie (DEL) Carlos Händel holds the same position as last year. His debut at 44th was higher than you’d typically expect of a sixth-rounder, but a productive year with the Halifax Mooseheads showed potential. The same spot in the order reflects the fact that he held the same half-point-per-game rate in his second QMJHL season as the first. That did drop from the sixth-best mark on the team in 2024-25 to 12th last season as the team added higher-quality players. Händel has opted to try his hand at professional hockey this season, heading home to Germany to play with Kölner Haie of the DEL. We’ll find out if that’s a step forward or backward in his development, and another appearance with his nation at the 2027 World Juniors will show if any progress is being made. #43 Arseni Radkov Goaltender – 19 – Val-d’Or Foreurs (QMJHL) Hallmarks of the current management’s scouting department are its success in drafting Russian players and goaltenders, so it’s strange that a prospect fitting both descriptions is trending toward being one of the misses. Arseni Radkov experiences the largest drop from 2025, falling 10 spots from his debut at 33rd. The third-rounder in last year’s draft had regularly posted a save percentage above .900 in his youth, whether that was in Finland in the SM-sarja, or Junior leagues in Russia. His acclimation to North America as he prepares for the NCAA wasn’t up to those standards, however, posting an .894 mark with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, then .882 after being traded to the Saint John Sea Dogs. In 2026-27, he’s set to play with his third QMJHL team, the Val-d’Or Foreurs, before he joins the University of Massachusetts. As is the case with Vecvanags, a netminder needs to show a lot of quality to stand out in this pool, and it wasn’t a strong post-draft impression from Radkov. He will need to have a bounce-back performance to elevate himself from this group of players. --- The next article in this lead-up to the official countdown of each of the top 25 players under the age of 25 looks at those generally regarded to have a better chance of reaching the NHL. There was a gap of over two ranks in the average from Radkov to the player who finished in 42nd on the list. 2026 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: Graduates, departures, and newcomers

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2026 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: Graduates, departures, and newcomers

Introduction The Montreal Canadiens surprised everyone with a late-season run to just squeak into the playoffs in 2024-25, claiming their berth on the final day of the season. Last year, there was no such drama surrounding a playoff spot. A fairly weak schedule to begin the season allowed them to build an early cushion, helpful when some goaltending issues led to a poor month of November. They quickly worked around those to get back on track and won significantly more games than they lost the rest of the way to make the playoffs, and an eight-game winning streak through the end of March into April allowed them to do so as a seeded team in the Atlantic Division, with the sixth-best record in the NHL. Montreal knocked off the two Atlantic teams that had finished above them, requiring seven games in each series. They arrived to the third round having played six more games than the Carolina Hurricanes, and after a commanding win in Game 1 their play rapidly declined in the subsequent matches as they lost the series in five games. Despite the sudden end to the campaign, the Canadiens were one of the youngest teams ever to make it to the final four and proved that the Stanley Cup contention window is opening. With those new expectations, everyone assumed there would be another big trade from Kent Hughes, a feature of his tenure, but as we enter August, that move hasn’t come, leaving this year’s team looking largely the same as last year’s. Montreal added eight new prospects to the pool via the draft when they probably expected to add only a handful. As a result, the Habs have made as many additions as there were subtractions over the past 12 months, so there are once again 55 players on the reserve list under the age of 25. Graduates .tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg .tg-ymce{background-color:#BE2F37;color:#FFF;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;vertical-align:bottom} .tg .tg-8m40{background-color:#BE2F37;color:#FFF;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom} .tg .tg-j6zm{font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom} .tg .tg-8d8j{text-align:center;vertical-align:bottom} .tg .tg-p59o{color:#00E;text-align:center;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:top} Player DOB 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 Cole Caufield 2001-01-02 3 3 2 2 2 3 7 Kirby Dach 2001-01-21 10 4 3 5 – – – Alex Newhook 2001-01-28 11 8 8 – – – – Arber Xhekaj 2001-01-30 12 14 17 21 – – – Jayden Struble 2001-09-08 17 15 22 18 11 15 20 Jakub Dobes 2001-05-27 18 24 24 28 33 39 – Alexander Gordin 2001-07-31 55 54 54 51 29 27 – The number of players may be the same, but we did experience a drop in quality of the pool because we had one of the most significant graduating classes in the project’s history. Six members of last year’s Top 25 are still in the organization — still members of the Canadiens in fact — but are no longer eligible, as they have all turned 25 (or will before the cutoff date of September 15). Those six players who were first eligible for the 2019 NHL Draft are joined by one player who spent most of his time in the series at the opposite end of our list. Cole Caufield The biggest loss from last year’s ranking is Cole Caufield, who completed his seven years in the project last summer. In 2025, he ranked third in the order, and exits as one of the very best players we’ve ever profiled. He held an average position of 3.29, debuting at seventh and experiencing a three-year run at number two behind Nick Suzuki. Caufield more than justified that lofty position last year by becoming the Canadiens’ first 50-goal-scorer since Stéphane Richer in 1989-90, accomplishing the feat with three games to spare and adding one more before the regular season came to a close. He also claimed an individual award for his efforts, with his joy for the game and exuberant support of his teammates helping him claim the Lady Byng Trophy. But, we saw the Caufield infectious smile disappear through the playoffs and during the team’s locker clean-out. “I sucked,” he answered when asked how his playoffs went, in which he scored 13 points but just three at even strength and had a team-worst -10 rating. Each member of the top line expressed disappointment in their play in the season postmortem, so 2026-27 might be more about them developing playoff-ready habits than chasing milestones. 2025 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #3 Cole Caufield Kirby Dach Kirby Dach was meant to be the team’s answer at second-line centre, filling a vacancy created when Phillip Danault ended up signing with the Los Angeles Kings following 2021’s run to the Stanley Cup Final. But his tenure with the Canadiens so far can best be summed up by the qualifying offer that came at the end of his four-year contract, one with a two-way structure because he didn’t meet the games-played thresholds to earn a deal that would guarantee NHL money. In those four years, he played fewer than two full seasons’ worth of games, a total of 154. But he did play all 19 playoff games in the spring. He started off well with five points in 10 games, but was held off the scoresheet in the final nine, including all five games of the Eastern Conference Final. Far from earning second-line-centre money, his new contract ended up being for one year and just $3.6 million dollars, 10% less than that two-way qualifying offer, and below the average contract for the current $104-million salary cap. Having turned 25 at the start of 2026, Dach graduates from the project still with a lot to prove. 2025 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #10 Kirby Dach Alex Newhook The second big draft-day addition from Hughes after acquiring Dach the previous summer was Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche. The reasoning was exactly the same: add an undervalued player who had the potential to become the missing piece at second-line centre. It’s a role Newhook had a longer look in mostly because of the injuries that have plagued Dach over the entirety of his NHL career, though Newhook has dealt with concerns of his own. Three years later, neither player has been able to take that position, and last year it was rookie Oliver Kapanen who got the biggest opportunity there. He may not be a second-line centre, but Newhook did establish himself as a quality second-line winger last year by contributing at a 50-point pace. His most memorable highlights were series-clinching goals in Game 7 of both the first and second rounds, and he ended the long playoff run as Montreal’s top goal-scorer. He was one of the Canadiens’ most improved players last season, and could take another offensive step playing opposite Ivan Demidov. 2025 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #11 Alex Newhook Arber Xhekaj It wasn’t a career high in NHL games played for Arber Xhekaj in 2025-26, but he still got into 65 compared to the previous season’s 70, and also played 13 of Montreal’s 19 playoff games. None of those games came in the Eastern Conference Final versus the Carolina Hurricanes, and that has a lot of people wondering about his future with the team. At this point, there’s no doubt about his ability to be an NHL defenceman (despite one game played at forward last season), and he would be an everyday player on just about any team other than Montreal with its seven quality blue-liners on the roster. With the emergence of Lane Hutson and the addition of Noah Dobson, Xhekaj’s average ice time has continued to drop despite how often he draws into the lineup. The lowest expected-goal share of the blue-line corps last season didn’t help his case, and neither does a point total that has consistently dropped alongside his minutes. David Reinbacher and Adam Engström are still waivers exempt, so there is no pressure on Xhekaj to lose a spot from that perspective. As things stand, #72 will still be with the team when the season begins in September. 2025 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #12 Arber Xhekaj Jayden Struble It was a strong debut in the Top 25 Under 25 seven years ago for Jayden Struble as people recognized the NHL potential he had even coming out of high school. A solid frame and some offensive promise provided him several paths to making the Canadiens, and he projected as a bottom-pairing player at worst. Now 25, Struble is an established NHLer, dressing for at least 56 games in the past three seasons, though he can’t quite claim to be an everyday player, and that’s mostly because of the player profiled above. Struble and Xhekaj have been vying for the same spot for three years now, and 2026-27 appears set to be a fourth. Struble has had a bit of an edge on his friend Arber in the past couple of seasons because he’s shown the ability to complement Hutson and contribute a bit offensively in that role. However, it’s not the ideal situation, and each year that goes by sees right-shot defence prospects get closer to trying out for that coveted position. However that situation settles, Struble will continue to play in the NHL, whether in Montreal or with another club. 2025 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #17 Jayden Struble Jakub Dobeš Last summer, his final one as a member of this series, Jakub Dobeš was a contentious player. Every panellist had him within the Top 25, but there was a divide between those who had him around 20th as a potential backup goaltender and others who saw a lot more in him. Twelve months later, it’s fair to say that those who envisioned more than a number-two role were right to hold him in high esteem. As he did in December of 2024, his first starts of the season were very strong, but the struggles of Samuel Montembeault also seemed to affect Dobeš as both had a short period of poor performances. But while the media kept discussing the issues the Habs were having in net, Dobeš was steadily rising back to top form and took over the main starting duties as Montembeault never came out of his funk. Helping the Canadiens get to sixth in the NHL by the end of the season, Dobeš ended up fourth in Calder Trophy voting. Now having turned 25 a couple of months ago, Dobeš is in the middle of his first off-season preparing to go into the season as the top netminder on the team. It’s amazing how far he’s come on both the technical and mental sides in his time in the organization, and he’s probably not done improving as a netminder. 2025 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #18 Jakub Dobeš Alexander Gordin As fun (or stressful depending on your point of view) as it to rank the players at the very top of the list, there’s a certain comfort in having a few players that you could automatically drag to the bottom of your ballot and attack what has become a daunting list from both sides. For many participants, the player pulled right to the bottom of the ranking for several years was Alexander Gordin. From the previous management regime that didn’t have nearly the same connections as the current group to evaluate Russian talent, Gordin is a top scoring talent whose game is seriously hampered by his skating ability. That has proven too great a limitation to even advance him from the Russian VHL to the KHL, a league that ranks below the AHL in terms of NHL equivalency in recent years. Stuck two or three levels below the NHL, it was tough to classify him as a “prospect” in the system, and his placement — dead last in each of the past three years — reflected his nil chance of becoming a member of the Canadiens. Departures .tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg .tg-wnkv{background-color:#21386F;color:#FFF;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle} .tg .tg-6y6p{background-color:#21386F;color:#FFF;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle} .tg .tg-yla0{font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:middle} .tg .tg-p59o{color:#00E;text-align:center;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:top} .tg .tg-nrix{text-align:center;vertical-align:middle} Player 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 Status Joshua Roy 20 9 9 7 22 – – Traded to UTA Sean Farrell 24 22 15 8 10 21 – Traded to ANA William Trudeau 32 30 27 32 27 – – Traded to NYR Luke Tuch 34 31 34 31 14 24 – Traded to CBJ Riley Kidney 43 29 19 15 17 – – Traded to OTT Ty Smilanic 54 50 41 27 – – – Rights relinquished Joshua Roy Despite six departures from the organization, only two of the players had cracked the Top 25 last year. The top-ranked of them, both on last year’s list (20th) and in terms of all-time highest spot (seventh in 2022), was Joshua Roy. All five of his seasons as a Canadiens prospect were spent on the official list of this series, but he broke a streak of three consecutive years inside the top 10 by falling 11 spots in 2025. Talent isn’t the issue with Roy. He showed great hand-eye coordination in his NHL games and had a promising quarter-season in 2023-24 in Montreal. He was quite steady in his minor-league production at just over 0.75 points per game in his three years. The issue was that those points always came in bursts, and the reason why he had stretches when he wasn’t producing is that he wasn’t engaged in the game. A point-per-game AHL scoring pace and a ticket back to the NHL were well within his reach, but he refused to grasp them. The door isn’t shut on him playing at the top level, but he’s going to have to push through it on his own, especially in a new organization like the Utah Mammoth that doesn’t have nearly the level of investment. 2025 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #20 Joshua Roy Sean Farrell If only Roy had Sean Farrell’s drive and determination. Farrell was one of the smaller players for the Rocket, but also one of its most consistent performers. He missed just five games in the past two seasons and his offensive totals were growing with those repetitions. He finished above Roy in points each of the last two years, and just six goals behind despite Roy’s stronger finishing skills. Farrell has worked hard to overcome the limitations of his size, but he still had issues when going up physically versus AHL defencemen, often stopped in his tracks by a bigger body. He needed some space to work with, which he learned to find in Laval, but that remains a tough ask in the NHL. As in Laval, he will need linemates to handle the physical play on his shifts to leave room for him to make plays. It’s a very specific complement of players he needs, tough enough to battle on the boards and skilled enough to take advantage of his playmaking, but perhaps he can find the combination in the Anaheim Ducks organization that allows him to take an NHL position. 2025 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #24 Sean Farrell William Trudeau William Trudeau flirted with a spot inside the Top 25 for each of the five years he was a Canadiens prospect, always between positions 27 and 32. Each game he would have a moment or two that showed his potential, but he never developed those abilities into a consistent style of play. Like most of the one-for-one trades made this summer, it was a change-of-scenery deal completed by the Canadiens and the New York Rangers. It gives Trudeau a new opportunity, and perhaps motivation, to find consistency and put himself in the conversation to play NHL games, something he wasn’t able to do among Montreal’s defensive depth. Luke Tuch Luch Tuch rose to 14th after 11 points in just 16 games to begin his time at Boston University. He fell out of the Top 25 when that rate didn’t repeat in his sophomore year, and he remained in the low 30s for the remainder of his time with the Canadiens. Each of his AHL seasons ended with 14 points, though he played 24 more games last season to reach that total. He showed the work ethic and habits to carve out a professional career, but it seems unlikely that that will lead to consistent NHL time. Laval Rocket general manager John Sedgwick made his first decision of the summer to send Tuch to the Columbus Blue Jackets, looking for someone with more of a chance of making it to the NHL in return. Riley Kidney A second-round selection in 2021, taken the pick before Montreal chose Kapanen, Riley Kidney debuted within the Top 25 that summer, and stayed in the teens for his first three seasons on the strength of 100- and 110-point seasons to end his QMJHL career. He dropped several places when he struggled to carry that offence to the AHL, then fell further when his second year in the pros was less productive than his first. He played the majority of last season in the ECHL, and was traded to the Ottawa Senators in mid-March. Ty Smilanic Ty Smilanic originally joined the Canadiens organization when he was part of the package from the Florida Panthers for Ben Chiarot. After a good season with Quinnipiac University, he slotted in at 27th in this project in 2022. The next year, after transferring to Wisconsin, he revealed struggles with mental health, and played just 14 games in his junior season, netting two points. He played with the ECHL’s Lions de Trois-Rivières in 2023-24, getting into 31 games and contributing seven points, but hasn’t played in a professional capacity since. In what would have been his final year of eligibility for this series, he’s no longer listed on Montreal’s reserve list, so it seems they no longer hold his rights despite the holding period being listed as “indefinite” for him, as it is for Russian prospects. Newcomers .tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg .tg-ymce{background-color:#BE2F37;color:#FFF;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;vertical-align:bottom} .tg .tg-8m40{background-color:#BE2F37;color:#FFF;font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom} .tg .tg-j6zm{font-weight:bold;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom} .tg .tg-8d8j{text-align:center;vertical-align:bottom} .tg .tg-p59o{color:#00E;text-align:center;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:top} Player DOB Age Pos Acquired Hunter McKown 2002-08-18 23.9 RW Traded from CBJ Brett Berard 2002-09-09 23.9 LW Traded from NYR Gleb Pugachyov 2008-03-25 18.3 RW 2026 NHL Draft (26th) Timofei Runtso 2007-07-06 19.1 RD 2026 NHL Draft (57th) Cooper Cleaves 2006-01-05 20.6 RD 2026 NHL Draft (93rd) Brayden Kilmpke 2007-10-08 18.8 LD 2026 NHL Draft (117th) Parker Trottier 2008-02-13 18.4 LW 2026 NHL Draft (189th) Wesley Royston 2007-11-22 18.7 RW 2026 NHL Draft (190th) Jean-Samuel Daigneault 2008-02-15 18.4 LD 2026 NHL Draft (221st) Tyler Deakos 2007-01-30 19.5 RW 2026 NHL Draft (224th) Maksymilian Szuber 2002-08-25 23.9 LD Traded from UTA Ethan Samson 2003-08-23 22.9 RD Signed as free agent Sasha Pastujov 2003-07-15 23.0 LW Traded from ANA AHL swaps Out went Tuch, Trudeau, Roy, and Farrell, and in came Hunter McKown, Brett Berard, Maksymilian Szuber, and Sasha Pastujov. Four players with low odds of making the NHL were dealt to new organizations, though the GMs on the other side probably had the same assessment of the players Montreal acquired. We’ll see over the next year if Sedgwick and the pro scouting team just made lateral moves of if they found a player or two who can become a more effective player for the Rocket or, ideally, an option for the NHL team that none of the four players shipped out currently project to be. 2026 NHL Draft class Everyone expected Hughes to trade away at least the 2026 first-round pick, and probably additional assets, to get more established players after Montreal’s playoff run. Instead, he found few takers at the draft, and ended up with eight new prospects in the system. They were mostly late-round picks in what is largely considered a weaker draft, so not of the same quality we had seen in the first few years of the tenure when the Canadiens finished near the bottom of the league. The focus was on size even more than it was last year, and on over-age players who are closer to becoming pros, a reaction to Montreal being outmuscled in the playoffs and the management staff looking for players who can have short developments and bolster the current group in the near term. Ethan Samson In addition to the players brought in via trade, Montreal also signed a defencemen — one who shoots right, another trend from this off-season. Ethan Samson was a late-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2021, but was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning last year before his ELC expired. He has only played AHL games to this point, and might see the situation on the right side of the defence in Montreal as a chance to change that. Outlook We won’t see such a strong graduating class in 2027, with just one current NHLer — Kaiden Guhle — in his final year. In total there are six players getting ranked for the last time, and half of those are from the AHL trades made this off-season. Either the vast majority of the top players and prospects will still be around a year from now, or there will be a major addition made to the lineup via trade in the meantime. Montreal holds seven picks for the 2027 NHL Draft. A year ago, it was predicted that draft picks would mostly become currency now that the Canadiens were a perennial playoff team. That didn’t come to pass as few trades were made beyond the odd pick swap in 2026. It didn’t help Hughes’s case that Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson traded the fourth-overall pick to acquire Bowen Byram from Buffalo, and that had every GM with an NHL player to offer expecting a haul of top assets in exchange. We’ve heard about several players the Canadiens have been looking at, but the requested return is clearly too high to agree to the deal. With the salary cap set to go up again next year, there won’t be many teams that need to move players out for financial reasons, so they can once again have high demands for their players. It could take several top assets to land the impact piece the GM is looking for under those market conditions. The best bet might be to wait until some separation occurs between teams during the season, and target some of the sellers trying to set new market prices. We will be profiling the best players in the organization over the next several weeks. Tomorrow we’ll look at the players who are the furthest from reaching the NHL, those who ranked the lowest on our ballots this year. --- If you would like to have your Top 25 Under 25 ballot sent to you, please leave a comment in the Introduction article for this season, linked below. 2026 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: Introduction

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Tuesday Habs Headlines: New Arrivals

Montreal Canadiens News and Notes * The Habs sign Maksymilian Szuber. [TSN | Sportsnet | Canadiens | TVA Sports] * Noah Dobson and his girlfriend welcome a baby girl. [TVA Sports] * Prospect Alexander Zharovsky appreciates his time in Montreal. [TVA Sports] * Erin Ambrose believes that Danièle Sauvageau will lead Hockey Canada to victory. [TVA Sports] Around the League and Elsewhere * The Leafs hire Andy O’Brien to be vice-president of sport performance. [TSN | CBC | Radio-Canada | Yahoo Sports] * Nico Hischier wants to be part of the answer for the Devils. [Yahoo Sports] * It’s part of the game, but Matt Rempe is sad to see Adam Edström go. [Yahoo Sports] * Roman Kantserov believes he can make the Blackhawks. [NHL] * Filipino hockey arrives at the 2026 Amerigol LATAM Cup. [NHL]