By JD Lagrange – In The System has become a very popular feature with our readers. This week, let’s see how the team’s top prospects are progressing. The far right column shows how the players are trending based on the previous week. Remember that this is in no way some expert dissection and in-depth analysis, but rather an overview at one point in time about how those young prospects are producing at their respective level.
Skaters
First, let’s have a look at the skaters or, in other words, all players but goaltenders.
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | PTS | PTS/GP | PIM | +/- | TREND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua Roy (W/C) | Sherbrooke Phoenix | QMJHL | 26 | 18 | 25 | 43 | 1.65 | 6 | +22 | ➡️ |
| Jared Davidson (C) | Seattle Thunderbirds | WHL | 31 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 1.61 | 40 | +25 | ⬇️ |
| Sean Farrell (C/LW) | Harvard Univ. | NCAA | 15 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 1.47 | 6 | +9 | ⬇️ |
| Riley Kidney (C) | Gatineau Olympiques | QMJHL | 33 | 15 | 33 | 48 | 1.45 | 28 | -1 | ➡️ |
| Owen Beck (C) | Peterborough Petes | OHL | 30 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 1.33 | 20 | +6 | ⬇️ |
| Filip Mesar (RW/C) | Kitchener Rangers | OHL | 19 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 1.26 | 6 | -5 | ⬇️ |
| Vinzenz Rohrer (C/RW) | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 27 | 11 | 22 | 33 | 1.22 | 12 | +20 | ⬆️ |
| Cedrick Guindon (LW/C) | Owen Sound Attack | OHL | 36 | 12 | 29 | 41 | 1.14 | 8 | +6 | ⬇️ |
| Lane Hutson (D) | Boston Univ. | NCAA | 18 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 1.11 | 12 | +9 | ⬇️ |
| Logan Mailloux (D) | London Knights | OHL | 28 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 0.93 | 39 | +10 | ⬇️ |
| Jesse Ylönen (RW) | Laval Rocket | AHL | 34 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 0.79 | 16 | -4 | ⬇️ |
| Xavier Simoneau (C) | Laval Rocket | AHL | 26 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 0.77 | 27 | -6 | ⬇️ |
| Rafaël Harvey-Pinard | Laval Rocket | AHL | 34 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 0.71 | 20 | 0 | ⬆️ |
| Nicolas Beaudin | Laval Rocket | AHL | 20 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 0.70 | 18 | +7 | ⬇️ |
| Justin Barron (D) | Laval Rocket | AHL | 25 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 0.64 | 6 | -3 | ➡️ |
| Rhett Pitlick (LW) | Univ. of Minnesota | NCAA | 22 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 0.59 | 16 | +4 | ⬇️ |
| Luke Tuch (LW) | Boston Univ. | NCAA | 19 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0.53 | 11 | 1 | ➡️ |
| Miguël Tourigny (D) | HK Dukla Trencin | Slovakia | 23 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0.52 | 29 | -6 | ⬇️ |
| Oliver Kapanen (C) | KalPa | Liiga | 33 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0.42 | 14 | 0 | ⬇️ |
| Blake Biondi (C) | Univ. Minnesota-Duluth | NCAA | 16 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.38 | 4 | -4 | ➡️ |
| Jack Gorniak (LW/C) | Univ. Wisconsin | NCAA | 22 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0.36 | 24 | +1 | ⬇️ |
| Emil Heineman | Leksands IF | SHL | 15 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.33 | 2 | -5 | ⬆️ |
| Jayden Struble (D) | Northeastern Univ. | NCAA | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.24 | 48 | -1 | ⬇️ |
| Mattias Norlinder (D) | Laval Rocket | AHL | 31 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0.19 | 8 | -4 | ⬇️ |
| Jan Mysak (C/LW) | Laval Rocket | AHL | 20 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.15 | 4 | -7 | ➡️ |
Two of the Canadiens’ top prospects were traded by their junior teams. First, Owen Beck is now with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, with in the QMJHL, Riley Kidney is now playing for the Gatineau Olympiques.
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard had a huge week with four goals and an assist, and a +3 differential in three games with the Rocket. At the other end of the spectrum, it is becoming a bit alarming to see the lack of progression in the games of Jayden Struble, Mattias Norlinder and Jan Mysak.
Goaltenders
And now, to the organization’s goaltending prospects…
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | GAA | Sv% | TREND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jakub Dobes | Ohio State Univ. | NCAA | 22 | 2.12 | .923 | ⬆️ |
| Emmett Croteau | Waterloo Black Hawks | USHL | 13 | 2.87 | .897 | ⬇️ |
| Cayden Primeau | Laval Rocket | AHL | 13 | 3.65 | .890 | ⬇️ |
| Joe Vrbetic | Trois-Rivières Lions | ECHL | 11 | 3.77 | .872 | ⬇️ |
| Laval Rocket | AHL | 3 | 2.70 | .903 | ➡️ | |
| Frederik Dichow | Frölunda HC | SHL | 9 | 2.91 | .897 | ⬆️ |
Jakub Dobes and Frederik Dichow participated in two games each and both did very well while Cayden Primeau came back from injury by didn’t fair so well in his one start. Joe Vrbetic also had a rough start with the Lions after being sent back to the ECHL.
World Junior Championships
The Canadiens had seven prospects playing at this year’s World Junior Championship and three of them returned with a medal. Joshua Roy was a key player for Canada and Owen Beck played the medal round for Canada as well in replacement of injured Colton Dach. Both won the Gold Medal. Lane Hutson won Bronze with the USA and unfortunately for Vinzenz Rohrer, Austria lost the relegation series to Latvia. Oliver Kapanen was captain of Finland while Filip Mesar was an assistant-captain for Slovakia. Adam Engstrom looked very good for Sweden. Overall, a very strong showing by the young Habs’ prospects.
| NAME | TEAM | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOSHUA ROY | CAN | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 | +14 |
| FILIP MESAR | SKA | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +3 |
| ADAM ENGSTROM | SWE | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +6 |
| LANE HUTSON | USA | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | +1 |
| OLIVER KAPANEN | FIN | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 |
| VINZENZ ROHRER | AUS | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -3 |
| OWEN BECK | CAN | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
We’ve received good review for this feature. Like and share, and see you next week.
More reading…
- In The System – January 2, 2023 by JD Lagrange
- In The System – December 19, 2022 by JD Lagrange
- In The System – December 12, 2022 by JD Lagrange