Montreal ranks second among NHL’s top prospect banks

After the last NHL draft, the Canadiens occupied third place in a ranking of the NHL’s top prospect banks by Byron Bader, a specialist in advanced statistics who sometimes works with The Athletic, TSN and Sportsnet.

Without really having acquired any new prospects since this last ranking, Montreal climbed to second place in the latest version of Bader’s rankings.

Updated again!

Forgot the Askarov trade.

It was enough to boost San Jose into the top 3! The model is actually not that high on Askarov right now because of playing so little in the years after he was drafted. It will rebound this year https://t.co/eJmbtJ7JZi

– Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) August 29, 2024

Just like last time, the Anaheim Ducks are still at the top of this ranking thanks to their extremely well-stocked bank of prospects, and have been for several years now.

Ivan Demidov’s recent performances may explain why the Canadiens have overtaken the Blackhawks for second place. The fifth overall pick in the last draft has had a superb preseason, and has even earned himself a spot with St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL for the start of next season.

According to this ranking, the Blackhawks have the NHL’s best bank of prospects for skaters, which accounts for 90% of the rating. Montreal is in third place in this respect, but is catching up with Chicago with a better ranking for prospects in front of the net.

The same goes for the Sharks, who have also overtaken the Blackhawks in this ranking due to the acquisition of Yaroslav Askarov in front of the net.

This ranking is based primarily on an NHL team’s top five prospects. For the Canadiens, we’re talking about Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, Michael Hage and Joshua Roy.

If he plays the majority of next season’s games, Roy may no longer be eligible for this ranking next year, but we have to suspect that his replacement probably won’t knock Montreal down several spots.

The depth of Montreal’s prospect bank also weighs in the balance. The Canadiens have the third-highest number of prospects with a 10% or better chance of becoming an NHL star, according to the analysis system.

It’s funny to see Montreal in second place in this ranking, especially after The Athletic’s prospect expert Corey Pronman placed Montreal sixth in his ranking. Sixth isn’t bad, but it’s a long way from Bader’s second-place ranking.

Predictions with advanced statistics are never perfect, however, and we’ll have to wait a few more years before we can declare beyond doubt which prospects will be the best in the NHL.