Taking a look back at over 30 years worth of Habs prospect top 10 lists

[ChesterNimitz]

I think it shows the past 30 years, our amateur scouting people have been hitting about .201 with a couple of home runs, and 17 RBI's and 2 SB's

Not good....no matter how you slice it, not good.

There’s many reasons why we have managed to gain a stranglehold on mediocrity, but reviewing the list of our prospects over the past 30 years is a pretty good starting point on the road to that illumination.

 

[Chili]

Looking back at the 1985-86 Cup team, there were only a few players who were not originally drafted or signed by the Habs (I count 5). Young too, even 4 19 year olds…To quote George Harrison 'When we was fab'.

Montreal Canadiens 1985-86 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com

 

[abo9]

I think it shows the past 30 years, our amateur scouting people have been hitting about .201 with a couple of home runs, and 17 RBI's and 2 SB's

Not good....no matter how you slice it, not good.

I'd be curious to see how competitive of a team we could create by using this list. Maybe the past 20 years since there were a couple home runs in the 90's like LeClaire

 

[abo9]

Past 30 years Habs team:

Pacioretty - LeClaire - Gallagher
Galchenyuk - Koivu - Ryder
Higgins - Ribeiro - Bure
Kotkaniemi - Plekanec - Suzuki
Extra: AK46, Serge K. (?)

Markov - Subban
Schneider - Brisebois
McDonagh - Komisarek
Extra: Hainsey, Streit

Price
Theodore
Vokoun

I think we'd be pretty solid if we had all these players at their peaks! For the older guys (pre-2000's), I'm relying on childhood memories and reputation so I'm sure a better roster can be built.

 

[Scintillating10]

It’s that time of year again - THN’s long-running annual special edition magazine is hitting the newsstands.

It features the usual “top 50” list and expands the overall ranking to the top 100 prospects. A panel of 9 scouts contributed to the top 50 prospects list.

Here is the Habs top 10. This list is typically provided by an actual member of the organization, so I presume that to be the case again this year.

1. Cole Caufield (15)
2. Kaiden Guhle (34)
3. Cayden Primeau (67)
4. Ryan Poehling (88)
5. Mattias Norlinder
6. Josh Brook
7. Jordan Harris
8. Luke Tuch
9. Jesse Ylonen
10. Jan Mysak

I have updated the following thread: Taking a look back at over 30 years worth of Habs prospect top 10 lists

4 in top 100 is pretty good. Also, Norlinder should be in top 100.

 

[beowulf]

Damn I got good eyesight and even I find that small!

What you going to do, unless we get a new President who knows how to run an NHL team and hires a good GM and then puts together a better draft department things will not change.

 

[Chili]

The latest list...

2022 Hockey News Top 10 Habs Prospects

1. Kaiden Guhle (16th league wide)
2. Cayden Primeau (95th league wide)
3. Logan Mailloux
4. Mattias Norlinder
5. Jordan Harris
6. Sean Farrell
7. Emil Heineman
8. Ty Smilanic
9. Jan Mysak
10. Joshua Roy

Overall league wide ranking of age 21 and under players including NHLers: 23rd (includes Cole Caufield)

 

[MTL-rules]

The latest list...

2022 Hockey News Top 10 Habs Prospects

1. Kaiden Guhle (16th league wide)
2. Cayden Primeau (95th league wide)
3. Logan Mailloux
4. Mattias Norlinder
5. Jordan Harris
6. Sean Farrell
7. Emil Heineman
8. Ty Smilanic
9. Jan Mysak
10. Joshua Roy

Overall league wide ranking of age 21 and under players including NHLers: 23rd (includes Cole Caufield)

Pretty crappy list if you ask me... A lot of posters here are better at evaluating habs prospects than them.

 

[LaP]

Who the hell is Vladimir Vujtek? Terry Ryan's fall from grace is sad yet funny somehow.

One of the guys we traded for Damphousse. He was a good prospect but never panned out.

 

[LaP]

The latest list...

2022 Hockey News Top 10 Habs Prospects

1. Kaiden Guhle (16th league wide)
2. Cayden Primeau (95th league wide)
3. Logan Mailloux
4. Mattias Norlinder
5. Jordan Harris
6. Sean Farrell
7. Emil Heineman
8. Ty Smilanic
9. Jan Mysak
10. Joshua Roy

Overall league wide ranking of age 21 and under players including NHLers: 23rd (includes Cole Caufield)

Primeau 2nd ????

 

[Chili]

To clarify who and how they come up with the list:

"A panel of scouts grades each team's list". (Habs got a C). "We asked them to base their projection on a long term outlook-who will be the most impactful players five to ten years from now."

EDIT: Justin Barron is listed as the #1 prospect for the Avs and 51st league wide so he should be the #2 prospect above on an updated list

 

[Not The One]

Thank you so much for compiling this. Brings back a lot of memories.

You can clearly seen the roots of the Habs fall from grace with these lists.

1997
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

Incredible that Timmins was allowed to work his "magic" for so long. He made his entire reputation from 2006-2008.

 

[Tripledeke333]

The drop off in quality in 2011 is insane.

 

[montreal]

The latest list...

2022 Hockey News Top 10 Habs Prospects

1. Kaiden Guhle (16th league wide)
2. Cayden Primeau (95th league wide)
3. Logan Mailloux
4. Mattias Norlinder
5. Jordan Harris
6. Sean Farrell
7. Emil Heineman
8. Ty Smilanic
9. Jan Mysak
10. Joshua Roy

Overall league wide ranking of age 21 and under players including NHLers: 23rd (includes Cole Caufield)

that's brutal looking. I don't think I will have Smilanic in my top 20 but over Joshua Roy, no way.

 

[Steve Shutt]

2022 Hockey News Top 10 Habs Prospects

1. Kaiden Guhle (16th league wide)
2. Cayden Primeau (95th league wide)
3. Logan Mailloux
4. Mattias Norlinder
5. Jordan Harris
6. Sean Farrell
7. Emil Heineman
8. Ty Smilanic
9. Jan Mysak
10. Joshua Roy

Surprised to see no: Barron, Kidney, Ylonen
Guessing these guys missed based on age & GPs: Pezetta, Poehling, Suzuki, Romanov, Caufield, Klague

 

[dcyhabs]

Looking back at the 1985-86 Cup team, there were only a few players who were not originally drafted or signed by the Habs (I count 5). Young too, even 4 19 year olds…To quote George Harrison 'When we was fab'.

Montreal Canadiens 1985-86 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com

That wasn't a normal season, though. Prior to that they had a lot of aging guys. They had a series of really good drafts and a lot of guys came up together. The team was solid from '85-'93, too bad the various GMs didn't realize how good their D were.

 

[26Mats]

Thank you so much for compiling this. Brings back a lot of memories.

You can clearly seen the roots of the Habs fall from grace with these lists.

1997
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

Incredible that Timmins was allowed to work his "magic" for so long. He made his entire reputation from 2006-2008.

2013: Lehkonen (just netted us a 2nd + Barron)
2014: Jake Evans (we were picking 26th in the first round and had no 2nd or 4th rounders - a Jake Evans is what you want to come away with in those circumstances)
2015: picked late 1st round, no 2nd round pick - Juulsen probably would have busted without the injuries, but we'll see what he becomes after more catching up in development time).
2016: Sergachev
2017: Poehling, Primeau (again picking late 1st round)
2018: Kotkaniemi, Ylonen, Romanov, Jordan Harris, Stapley (so far Romanov may make up for Kotkaniemi. It remains to be seen who will have more of an impact on their team: Romanov, Tkachuk, or Quinn Hughes). But this draft will only be able to start to be judged in 2025 or 2026.

 

[dcyhabs]

Thank you so much for compiling this. Brings back a lot of memories.

You can clearly seen the roots of the Habs fall from grace with these lists.

1997
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018

Incredible that Timmins was allowed to work his "magic" for so long. He made his entire reputation from 2006-2008.

I can understand giving him some slack after those drafts, though. 2006 and 2007 were really impressive. They didn't keep many picks from 2009-2015, though, and he didn't do much with the ones they used.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

The latest list...

2022 Hockey News Top 10 Habs Prospects

1. Kaiden Guhle (16th league wide)
2. Cayden Primeau (95th league wide)
3. Logan Mailloux
4. Mattias Norlinder
5. Jordan Harris
6. Sean Farrell
7. Emil Heineman
8. Ty Smilanic
9. Jan Mysak
10. Joshua Roy

Overall league wide ranking of age 21 and under players including NHLers: 23rd (includes Cole Caufield)

Nice to see Guhle that high! That's a pretty good sign

 

[Luigi Habs]

The latest list...

2022 Hockey News Top 10 Habs Prospects

1. Kaiden Guhle (16th league wide)
2. Cayden Primeau (95th league wide)
3. Logan Mailloux
4. Mattias Norlinder
5. Jordan Harris
6. Sean Farrell
7. Emil Heineman
8. Ty Smilanic
9. Jan Mysak
10. Joshua Roy

Overall league wide ranking of age 21 and under players including NHLers: 23rd (includes Cole Caufield)

Primeau is borderline top 10
Norlinder too high. Smilanic shouldn’t be there.
Barron is missing
Roy criminally low

Not very good ranking this time

 

[blueberry]

I really like Roy but his skating at this time is holding him back a bit. The NHL is a really fast league now. He doesn't seem to be a bad skater just seems a bit sluggish or something. Maybe cause he doesn't have to have that speed for junior. He certainly will have to get more explosive but he seems to work on things he needs to do. I can't believe nobody took him earlier....very strange. Anyway I'm happy with him and now let's hope he has the drive.

 

[tinyzombies]

David Fischer What a waste...

saw him at rookie camp - had a weird but effective bouncy stride. a bit thin. couldn't shoot but then unleashed a corker from the point top corner in the pickup I saw him in. Perplexing.

 

[Maitz]

In a lot of list the #9-10 ended up being better than the top 3

 

[Habsfan18]

Guys, I’m reading a few comments complaining about the lack of Barron. OBVIOUSLY he would be towards the top of our list. He was still a Colorado prospect at the time of publication.

Also, I haven’t read the issue yet, but it should be mentioned as a reminder that historically, the top 10 list from each team has typically been provided by a member of that particular organization. In that case, our most recent top 10 may have been provided by Lapointe. That is assuming FW was still put together the same way it used to be.

 

[Chili]

Justin Barron was listed as the top prospect on the Avs list (51st league wide) so he would have been the Habs 2nd ranked prospect. It is odd they published the magazine before the trade deadline (i.e. Morgan Barron still appeared on the Rangers list).

That wasn't a normal season, though. Prior to that they had a lot of aging guys. They had a series of really good drafts and a lot of guys came up together. The team was solid from '85-'93, too bad the various GMs didn't realize how good their D were.

The 1986 Cup team was largely built through the draft, with a nice infusion of talent from the preceeding drafts. Prior to that season the team had been on the decline. The cap and number of teams have made it more challenging now but the draft is still where the Cup is won in my opinion.