Best 25-year-old prospect: Slafkovský (17th) ahead of Caufield (47th), according to Swiss website

In an ideal world, the future of Montreal’s attack will lie with a group that includes Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský. At present, the former is already fairly established in the NHL (he was having quite a season before being injured and has signed an eight-year contract), while Slaf is still finding his feet.

At 19 and with half a season’s experience in North America, it’s far too early to panic about that, we agree.

That said, we agree that if we had to bet on who will have the biggest long-term impact, Caufield would probably be the clear favourite. After all, he’s already an elite goalscorer, and when in doubt, it’s best to bet on the “safest” value.

But for Thomas Roost, a writer for a Swiss site called MySports, it’s a different story: in his list of NHLers ranked according to their potential at age 25 (the upside, in other words), Slaf is ranked 17th in the NHL, while Caufield is only 47th.

It’s important to note that Roost only considered guys under the age of 23 (so Nick Suzuki isn’t one of them). That said, we agree that even if the CH is well represented (Alex Newhook is 53rd, Sean Farrell is 56th and Lane Hutson is 60th), the order is quite debatable.

One also wonders if there isn’t a certain “European bias” towards Old World hopefuls, which is somewhat the opposite of the “North American bias” sometimes found here. Slaf and Reinbacher are fine prospects, and they have an interesting ceiling, but Caufield had a pace of nearly 50 goals last year, even so.

For those interested, Connor Bedard comes in first, and he’s followed by Matvei Michkov and Jack Hughes. Adam Fantilli and Tim Stützle round out the top-5, and for the rest of the rankings, I’ll link HERE.

If Slafkovský, Reinbacher and Dach all become better players than Caufield at the age of 25, I admit I’ll be a little surprised. But if they do, I think it will mean that they’ve developed very, very well. And that would be a great thing for the CH.

In bursts

– I don’t doubt it.

“I’m sure from up there, he’s extremely honored.”👇https://t.co/rXgmQFt09y

– NHL (@NHL_EN) July 20, 2023

– Wow.

– Not strong.