Montreal Canadiens are No. 1 in 2024 N…
Welcome to Scott Wheeler’s 2024 prospect rankings for each NHL team. We are counting down every day from No. 32 to No. 1, and you can view the full ranking and further details on the criteria here. The series, which runs from January 30 to February 29, features in-depth analyses and insider knowledge on about 500 prospects.
The Canadiens have assembled the league’s most quantity pool of any team after selecting more players than the permitted seven picks in each of the previous six drafts. They have a star goaltender prospect, solid forward depth, and genuine quality on defense as well. Their inability to have a top prospect up front is what keeps them from having one of the greatest pools in the league.
Ranking of the 2023 prospect pool: No. 11 (change: +1)
1. Lane Hutson (Boston University), LHD, 19
When I put him 19th on my draft board, I was ecstatic. And even if he made a few mistakes defensively, he had an excellent tournament offensively against professional opposition at the men’s worlds, and he had gained a few inches (he is currently listed at 5-foot-10)—I’m still as optimistic now as I was back then. Before the draft, I said, and I still stand by it, that “I’d stake my reputation on him becoming one-of-one and climbing up re-drafts.”
Hockey players who play like Hutson are few, if they exist at all. I’m frequently asked how much higher he could have gone if he were 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3, but the truth is that he couldn’t perform a lot of the things that make him so fascinating. He is a special player who creates entry and exits, weaves past covering, escapes pressure, and finds or creates seams with a light (but not forceful) stride.
Like any young defenseman in the game, he has a keen eye for the ice and can consistently find plays to make for the puck and routes to take it to stay one step ahead of the opponent. Like any young defenseman in the game, he can read the motions of opposing forwards and expose them. Whether he is leading saucer passes across the ice with precise weight, feathering high, or tossing a hard pass to a teammate who is streaking, he has an amazing talent for executing east-to-west plays.
Though occasionally he may use some hurry-up to his game because he can occasionally turn it over in tight situations, he makes a ton of plays when other players would panic. Despite having a worse shooting, his ability to create and move off the line makes him a fourth forward. With an abundance of shimmies and shakes, he regularly causes opposing defenders to miss one-on-one opportunities in all three zones. He is among the sport’s most astute players.
Furthermore, I genuinely have time for the way he argues. In order to avoid always needing to fight, he recovers loose pucks quickly. When he does, though, his aggressive stick, timing, and positioning allow him to disrupt the other team’s carriers and break up plays. Although he occasionally makes mistakes within the defensive zone and has limits with box-outs and one-on-one play, his skills more than make up for these shortcomings. He has played a significant amount of minutes at the collegiate and international levels with great success.
draft, and I continue to do so.
Hockey players who play like Hutson are few, if they exist at all. I’m frequently asked how much higher he could have gone if he were 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3, but the truth is that he couldn’t perform a lot of the things that make him so fascinating. He is a special player who creates entry and exits, weaves past covering, escapes pressure, and finds or creates seams with a light (but not forceful) stride.
Like any young defenseman in the game, he has a keen eye for the ice and can consistently find plays to make for the puck and routes to take it to stay one step ahead of the opponent. Like any young defenseman in the game, he can read the motions of opposing forwards and expose them. Whether he is leading saucer passes across the ice with precise weight, feathering high, or tossing a hard pass to a teammate who is streaking, he has an amazing talent for executing east-to-west plays.
Though occasionally he may use some hurry-up to his game because he can occasionally turn it over in tight situations, he makes a ton of plays when other players would panic. Despite having a worse shooting, his ability to create and move off the line makes him a fourth forward. With an abundance of shimmies and shakes, he regularly causes opposing defenders to miss one-on-one opportunities in all three zones. He is among the sport’s most astute players.
Furthermore, I genuinely have time for the way he argues. In order to avoid always needing to fight, he recovers loose pucks quickly. When he does, though, his aggressive stick, timing, and positioning allow him to disrupt the other team’s carriers and break up plays. Although he occasionally makes mistakes within the defensive zone and has limits with box-outs and one-on-one play, his skills more than make up for these shortcomings. He has played a significant amount of minutes at the collegiate and international levels with great success.
Above all, he is the type of player that, just when you think you have him beat or in a tight place, will prove to you otherwise with a spin (or a spin into a spin!), a fake (using his eyes, head, shoulders, hands, feet, or any combination of them), or his exquisite vision across layers. He ignores what is directly in front of him. When he grows a little stronger, I think he’ll develop into a strong offensive defenseman and PP1 quarterback who can hold his own defensively in the NHL (you don’t want him to get too heavy and lose some of that lightness though!). Fans of the Habs have something to look forward to as it is anticipated that he will turn pro and join Montreal this season.
2. David Reinbacher (HC Kloten), RHD, 19
Draft-eligible D players occasionally participate in a professional league during their entire draft year. Even when they are older, like Reinbacher was when he turned 40 in October, we rarely see them play significant minutes in a top league. However, the Austrian played more than 20 minutes more frequently than he did under it in Switzerland’s top division previous season. In those minutes, he produced success on both sides as well, leading to a positive goal differential against a team that was considerably outscored and below.500. He hasn’t improved significantly this season—at least not for a No. 5 pick—but some of that may also be ascribed to his team’s disappointing performance.
Reinbacher has ideal handedness, pro size, and an extremely solid tool set that virtually ensures he’ll develop into a competent NHL player. He can appear a little stiff at times, but he is a good forward and backward skater who gaps well and uses a very long stick to efficiently defend the rush. In the neutral zone, he prefers to take rather than give, frequently stepping up to try to force dumps and bump puck carriers off possession (though occasionally, if his timing is off or he is caught flat-footed, that tactic might leave him chasing). He is powerful. He consistently keeps his head up and swivels, and when he makes repeated shoulder checks to get pucks, he does an excellent job pre-surveying the ice. Though he doesn’t play very dynamically with the puck on his stick, he does have some poise and ability to think under pressure.
Although his upside isn’t all that impressive and I’m not sure if his game is good enough to justify his draft position (to be honest, it needs a little bite), he should develop into a solid No. 3–4 player. He is a reliable, versatile defenseman.
3. Boston College’s Jacob Fowler, G, 19
Fowler’s play over the last three seasons has positioned him as one of the sport’s top goaltender prospects. That began when he was selected for the USHL’s First All-Star Team last year, having led the league in goals-against average and save percentage the previous two years, and its All-Rookie Second Team the year before. This year, it has been sealed with a standout rookie campaign at BC, where he has played almost every minute on probably the top team in the nation (though the team in front of him is certainly helpful, their strength is primarily at forward, where he has stolen some games). (I should add that he was outstanding at the World Jr. A Challenge, but I’ve seen him look just okay with Team USA in Gothenburg at the World Juniors and Plymouth at the World Junior Summer Showcase.)
