Owen Beck ranked fifth best Canadiens prospect by NHL.com

If the draft is recognized as an inexact science, so too is ranking prospects who have already been drafted. The Canadiens have a well-stocked bank of prospects, and many people have fun ranking the members of that bank.

NHL.com’s Sean Farrell (not the player) did just that on Thursday.

Farrell offered his top 5 Habs prospects, and his fifth pick is the talk of the town.

Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux will battle for positions on the blue line after making their NHL debuts last season. #GoHabsGo https://t.co/7PdxsNPXE1

– NHL (@NHL_EN) August 15, 2024

His fifth pick is Owen Beck.

I’m not saying Owen Beck doesn’t deserve to be on this list, but it’s pretty rare that the people who do these kinds of rankings put him this high.

What’s even crazier is that he’s the second-highest-ranked forward on this list behind Ivan Demidov, who’s at the very top.

Let’s just say that other forwards could earn a spot ahead of Owen Beck, even if he did lead his team to victory in the last Memorial Cup.

Among the forwards who have been overlooked are Joshua Roy, Oliver Kapanen and Michael Hage. In his guide to Canadiens prospects, Grant McCagg placed Beck behind these three forwards.

I compiled 3+ videos on every Habs prospect that I ranked in the top 30 for the Habs Prospect Guide. There are 100 videos in total. It also includes an interview with Nick Bobrov. https://t.co/6xR8J5lB9H pic.twitter.com/CFnnQdUaxT

– Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) August 3, 2024

Beck is ninth in McCagg’s rankings. And let’s not forget goalie Jacob Fowler, who could very well be considered a better prospect than Owen Beck.

Let’s hope Owen Beck proves NHL.com right with a stellar season!

Defensemen David Reinbacher, Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux are ranked second, third and fourth respectively by NHL.com.

On another note, NHL.com has also unveiled some advanced statistics related to Canadiens players. In Thursday’s article, Caufield was one of the NHL’s topmidrange shooters, ranking in the 97th percentile in the league in 2023-24.

Slafkovsky could also continue to be a dangerous player next season. He ranked in the 89th percentile in the NHL for most dangerous shots with a total of 70. He scored on 13 of those shots.