HF Habs: Post-draft Top 20 prospects.

[1909]

Mitch Brown has started releasing his list of Habs prospects over on the Athletic.

So far:
Teasdale outside top 20.
20. Fairbrother.
19. Stapley.
18. Fonstad.
17. Hillis.
16. Olofsson.

Teasdale is better than Fonstad and Hillis.

 

[DAChampion]

I believe you guys when you mostly say that this farm system is superior in both breadth and depth than that of most of recent history.

And it's a huge relief to know that they're in good hands. The AHL coaching staff will seek to develop them, not to harm them.

If I still lived in Montreal I'd probably go to a lot of Laval games, to get to know the players prior to when they might form the core of a contender during the period 2022-2027, or so.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

I love how our top 6 prospects could all be on the ice at the same time. Shows what a balanced group we have at the top.

Caulfield-Poehling-Suzuki
Romanov-Brook
Primeau

Could all be on the same ice at the same time for us one day.

 

[montreal]

Teasdale is better than Fonstad and Hillis.

at 17,
Fonstad - 72-21-52-73 -5 6 pims
Hillis - 60-20-39-59 -12 48 pims
Teasdale - 60-18-29-47 +22 25 pims

at 18,
Fonstad - 67-29-44-73 +32 12 pims
Teasdale - 65-32-33-65 +18 14 pims
Hillis - 33-10-12-22 -10 27 pims


Fonstad has had the better stats, in a tougher league but benefited from being on one of the top teams in the CHL this year.

Teasdale has the edge in size, defensive play, and his style should fit a bottom line well.

Fonstad likely the best skater of the group, Hillis needed to work on his skating and he did, looked improved there so I'd give him the edge over Teasdale.

Hillis is coming off several injuries and a disappointing year that was mainly just a slow start as he turned it on to where he would be around where he was in his age 17 season. I think he's underrated as his passing/playmaking are among the best in our farm system.

Teasdale if he can improve his skating has the more likely chance to see NHL games but I think Hilis has the highest upside of the trio. If Fonstad can improve his strength, add mass, get his nose dirty more, he could be a pretty good prospect for us.

Where these guys are ranked it's real close with all of them, add in McShane who likely has the best shot out of them but like Teasdale the skating and speed need improvement and I don't think McShane works hard enough out there. But the skills are legit.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Brown's 15 to 11 list:
15. Harris
14. Pitlick
13. Ikonen
12. Evans
11. Fleury

 

[26Mats]

Brown's 15 to 11 list:
15. Harris
14. Pitlick
13. Ikonen
12. Evans
11. Fleury

will be interesting to compare his list to ours. I also have pitlick around 14th.

 

[canadiensnation]

If anyone is interested here's my list....fire away!

 

[TT1]

Mitch Brown has started releasing his list of Habs prospects over on the Athletic.

So far:
Teasdale outside top 20.
20. Fairbrother.
19. Stapley.
18. Fonstad.
17. Hillis.
16. Olofsson.

Lmao, i have Fairbrother ahead of everyone in front of him.

If anyone is interested here's my list....fire away!

Harris is insanely low, he's a stud. He has a lot of Duncan Keith in him. His hockey IQ/decision making is off the chart.

 

[ProspectsSTC]

If anyone is interested here's my list....fire away!

I think you're seriously underrating Caufield's IQ. It's what allows him to be lethal

 

[TT1]

Yea Caufield's offensive IQ/goal scoring instinct is obviously elite.

 

[Hfbsux]

Lmao, i have Fairbrother ahead of everyone in front of him.

Harris is insanely low, he's a stud. He has a lot of Duncan Keith in him. His hockey IQ/decision making is off the chart.

Agreed x2.

 

[Habs76]

1. Caufield
2. Romanov
3. Poehling
4. Suzuki
5. Brook
6. Primeau
7. Ylonen
8. Fleury
9. Struble
10. Harris
11. Ikonen
12. Teasdale
13. Norlinder
14. Evans
15. Olofsson
16. Fairbrother
17. Pitlick
18. Stapley
19. Hillis
20. McShane

 

[Runner77]

Mitch Brown's Habs top 20:

It wasn't lifted from behind a paywall but was published here, available to all for free: The Athletic dévoile le Top-20 des espoirs du Canadien!

 

[Mrb1p]

Mitch Brown's Habs top 20:

It wasn't lifted from behind a paywall but was published here, available to all for free: The Athletic dévoile le Top-20 des espoirs du Canadien!

Weird ranking for sure. I can't agree with it.

 

[DangerDave]

That is a weird list. McShane at 9??? I'm a gens fan but he is not a better prospect than half the people below him. Ylonen at 4 is just as perplexing. He should be closer to 7

 

[montreal]

I don't really know Mitch as I don't follow or read his stuff but I have seen a few articles of his and he seems to do a great job. That said there are a few on his list I don't agree with. I hope he's right on guys like McShane, Ylonen, Norlinder being that high.

Primeau it's tough since he's a goalie but you are talking about one of the best 18 and 19 year seasons in NCAA history. Granted that doesn't mean it will translate to the NHL. Harris imo is hard to keep him out of the top 10 imo.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I don't really know Mitch as I don't follow or read his stuff but I have seen a few articles of his and he seems to do a great job. That said there are a few on his list I don't agree with. I hope he's right on guys like McShane, Ylonen, Norlinder being that high.

Primeau it's tough since he's a goalie but you are talking about one of the best 18 and 19 year seasons in NCAA history. Granted that doesn't mean it will translate to the NHL. Harris imo is hard to keep him out of the top 10 imo.

I disagree with Mitch on quite a few opinions but he is probably the best of the social media scouts. Definitely more knowledgeable than the Button, Pronman, Basu, Dumont etc...

He at least has some actual scouting abilities as he understands skating, shooting and stickhandling mechanics.

 

[montreal]

I disagree with Mitch on quite a few opinions but he is probably the best of the social media scouts. Definitely more knowledgeable than the Button, Pronman, Basu, Dumont etc...

He at least has some actual scouting abilities as he understands skating, shooting and stickhandling mechanics.

makes it odd that he would value McShane so highly, he didn't impress at all at the summer showcase and aside from his skating, I don't like how much he coasts, needs to move his feet more. That said if you overlook his issues I do think he could be considered a top 10 prospect of ours just based off skill. Really like his shot but there's no way I would have him in my top 10 and I doubt he will make my top 15 in the fall.

For someone that gets skating it's hard to justify Harris being that low as well. How often do you see a kid that just turned 18 3 months before the season started to play on the top pairing on a top 10 ranked team in the NCAA. Then add in his was playing his off side.

But I also don't know what he was basing this ranking on as I just see the list.

 

[Habs Halifax]

1. Poehling
2. Suzuki
3. Caufield
4. Romanov
5. Brook
6. Ylonen
7. Primeau
8. Struble
9. Harris
10 Olofsson
11. Teasdale
12. Norlinder
13. Fleury
14. Ikonen
15. Evans
16. Stapley
17. Hillis
18. McShane
19. Fonstad
20. Pitlick

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

makes it odd that he would value McShane so highly, he didn't impress at all at the summer showcase and aside from his skating, I don't like how much he coasts, needs to move his feet more. That said if you overlook his issues I do think he could be considered a top 10 prospect of ours just based off skill. Really like his shot but there's no way I would have him in my top 10 and I doubt he will make my top 15 in the fall.

For someone that gets skating it's hard to justify Harris being that low as well. How often do you see a kid that just turned 18 3 months before the season started to play on the top pairing on a top 10 ranked team in the NCAA. Then add in his was playing his off side.

But I also don't know what he was basing this ranking on as I just see the list.

I certainly took issue with both McShane and Harris' rankings as well. I just find that his explanations are closer to what I have heard from real scouts. Within the scouting fraternity there are wildly varying opinions on player projection but they are usually very consistent with their evaluation of player's tools and mechanics.

I am not a big McShane fan but if he does improve his skating mechanics he could be a very good prospect as the issue with not moving his feet may just be bad junior habits.

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

I took into account readiness for the next level also

1. Poehling
2. Romanov
3. Suzuki
4. Caufield
5. Brook
6. Primeau
7. Ylonen
8. Ikonen
9. Fleury
10. Evans

that Top 5 looks pretty good to me

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

i'm curious to see if any of these crack the lineup this year. Poehling, maybe?

 

[WG]

makes it odd that he would value McShane so highly, he didn't impress at all at the summer showcase and aside from his skating, I don't like how much he coasts, needs to move his feet more. That said if you overlook his issues I do think he could be considered a top 10 prospect of ours just based off skill. Really like his shot but there's no way I would have him in my top 10 and I doubt he will make my top 15 in the fall.

For someone that gets skating it's hard to justify Harris being that low as well. How often do you see a kid that just turned 18 3 months before the season started to play on the top pairing on a top 10 ranked team in the NCAA. Then add in his was playing his off side.

But I also don't know what he was basing this ranking on as I just see the list.

From the articles in the Athletic:

"As a reminder, the goal of this list is not to identify who will play in the NHL the soonest or who is most likely to have an NHL career. Instead, it is to identify the players with the highest probability of becoming top-line/pairing players, with a secondary emphasis on top-six and top-four players."

So, 'safer' prospects that are likely to be solid 3rd liners are ticked down in favor of potentially riskier prospects with top-of-the-lineup upside.

In Ylonen's case, Brown cited his skating as best in the organization (with hands to match) and he goes into some detail explaining why he put Ylonen (marginally) ahead in his ranking vs. Brook and Romanov.

 

[SakuKoivu11]

Jayden Struble and Jordan Harris should be higher. They have top 4 potential and higher ceiling than Cale Fleury. Josh Brook will be a top 3 defenceman judging from his play.

 

[Maxime Tremblay]

1 poehling

2 caufield

3 Romanov

4 Brook

5 Primeau

6 Ylonen

7 Struble

8 Harris

9 Teasdale

10 Ikonen

11 Norlinder

12 Olofsson

13 Fleury

14 Evans

15 Hillis

16 Pitlick

17 Mcshane

18 Fonstad

19 Fairbrother

20 Stapley