Top U23 Players: Canadian Ranks Third in the NHL, According to The Athletic

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Top U23 Players: Canadian Ranks Third in the NHL, According to The Athletic
Credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

The Canadiens are building around young players, as you know.

Even though the club's prospect pool isn't as deep as it used to be, the organization's pool of young players remains just as promising.

And that's true both in the short and long term.

So for a few years now, the Canadiens have been highly regarded when it comes to the young players in the organization—both established players and prospects.

And that's not about to change this morning.

Corey Pronman (The Athletic) ranked the 32 teams based on the quality of their U23 prospects, and the Canadiens came in third in the NHL according to his research.

The team is still on the podium.

Because the rankings do not include players who are 23 or older (as of September 15), players like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Jakub Dobes, and Zachary Bolduc, for example, are not included in the rankings.

They are nonetheless part of the Canadiens' future, even though they obviously aren't on Pronman's list.

Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, and Lane Hutson make up the analyst's top three. And since the vast majority of NHL teams don't have a Hutson in their organization, the fact that the Habs are ranked #3 speaks volumes about the team's depth.

Very deep, in fact.

It's worth noting that the two teams ahead of the Canadiens—unsurprisingly—are the Sharks and the Ducks. Both organizations have promising young players to build around.

It's worth noting that with the Chicago Blackhawks in fourth place, the Habs are the only team in the top four that didn't offer a contract worth at least $15 million per season to a young franchise player this summer. Demidov signed for less than $10 million…


In a flash

– Speaking of a Hutson.

– Ouch.

– Alexis Sanchez: The beginning of something? [BPM Sports]

– We know a little bit of what to expect.

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