Excerpt from the Hockey’s Future article which ranks the top 10 NHL organizations according to their prospect depth:
8. Montreal CanadiensStrengths: Despite on-ice success in recent years, the Canadiens still host a deep, talented prospect pool. They have a plethora of valuable blueliners that cover many different roles. Offensive-minded players like P.K. Subban, Yannick Weber and Mathieu Carle are complimented well with physical defensive players like Ryan O’Byrne, Alexei Yemelin and Pavel Valtenko. Don’t forget the next big thing on the Montreal blueline: Ryan McDonagh. They still possess a fairly strong group of forwards, despite recent graduations. Maxwell and Chipchura are the organization’s top two-way centers, while Max Pacioretty made his mark as a talented power forward who is progressing quickly. Weaknesses: The forward depth, while not awful, has taken some big losses, even if Danny Kristo becomes the sniper he’s projected to be. Despite a deep defense, the huge stalwart that eats minutes isn’t really there. There aren’t many prominent world-beaters, in terms of speed, left in the organization. Top five prospects: 1. Ryan McDonagh, D, 2. Max Pacioretty, LW, 3. Ryan O’Byrne, D, 4. Jaroslav Halak, G, 5. Ben Maxwell, C. Key losses to graduation: Carey Price, Andrei Kostitsyn, Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre.