Montreal Canadiens Prospects! How Close To NHL Ready Are They?

Montreal Canadiens Prospects! How Close To NHL Ready Are They?

That’s Marco De Mo. Follow him at M and do. Read all his latest at RG Media. Welcome back. Thank you so much for being here, supporting us by supporting betonline.ag, a trusted space in the online gaming community for the better part of 30 years. Best customer service, the easiest uh cash out options. And if you’re into crypto, if you’re one of the crypto bros out there, um your deposits get enriched thanks to betonline.ag. Your odds for everything. the Montreal Canadians has it’s been a bit of a theme. Uh and thank you so much for being with us all week, the theme has been prospects and drafts and offer sheets and possible transactions. Why? Because again, if you were with us on Monday when we talked about the abundance of picks and the abundance of prospects the Montreal Canadians have, let’s get into the weeds a little bit on what some of these guys are doing. And it’s more than than what’s going on in Laval. Let’s start with what’s happening with this uh young man playing for Austria at the World Hockey Championships, right? Let’s talk about some of the prospects that the Montreal Canadians have. Marco, um let’s start there at the Worlds. How impressed are you about what’s going on and what what can you tell us about uh what’s his V pronounce? Z’s Vincent’s roar. Vincens’s Vincens Z. I mean, he’s he’s looked apart uh on Austria uh you know, in the World Championships, playing against NHL talent, looked really good against Canada, looked once again pretty damn good against France. I think you look at a guy like him with the speed he has, you know, some of some of the people that are going to look him up right now, hockey DVD does not have his his uh the right uh biometrics. Uh he’s closer to 5’11, 18, 175, 180 pounds right now, but this is an athletic freak. And the way he skates, so powerful. Looks like a prime candidate to be a bottom six energy guy that could really drive to the net. And I think that’s exactly what the Canadians were looking for. And he’s doing exactly that at the World Championships against honestly, I would say, one of the most NHL deep world championships we’ve seen in a while. There’s a lot of NHL talent there. Why? Because everyone’s trying to get their audition in for the Olympics next winter. Oh, right. Of course. So, that’s why you’re seeing a lot of talent. And what’s really cool is, you know, he may end up you representing Austria at the at the Olympics in Milan, right? So, it’s going to be really fun to watch him play and see how things turn out. You know, another guy that could represent Austria at the Olympics is a certain David Rybacker, but we’ll get to him in a sec. Yeah. So, you look at Roar, he has that straight line speed, that NHL speed, but the thing is he signed uh another year with the with Zurich in in the Switzerland um for next season. So, he’s contractually obligated to go there, except there’s a very real possibility that the Canadians do what they have been doing for a little bit now, which is signing these players right now to entry level contracts, right? So, you have a guy like, you sign him to a three-year entry-level contract. Um, I believe it’s still three years. Um, and you basically get him to come over for for training camp. And then if he doesn’t make the team, you can send him back and he can just play out the first year of his contract there. And at the end of that season, you call him over either to play with you in the playoffs, if you’re in the playoffs, or to play in your AHL roster team. If that sounds familiar, that’s exactly what the Canadians did with one Oliver Kaepan and Emil Heinman uh a couple years back. But Kappa, that’s exactly what happened this year. He signed a one-year contract with Timra and the SHL, but also signed his entry-le contract with the Montreal Canadians. In fact, sorry, I take that back. He signed a two-year contract with Timra. But the what happens is the second year goes away. The Canadians are able to pay through transfer agreements. they’re able to pay the Swedish team and that last year of his contract gets removed but the first year he has to go back to Europe. So, in Ror’s case, playing great, but he would probably get lost in the shuffle of Laval, right? We’re seeing it right now. Philip Meshar isn’t even able to get into the roster in the playoffs, right? Yeah. So, Roarer would kind of be in that situation where he would kind of be stuck on a fourth line because you got other vets, other older prospects. But in Zurich, he’d probably get top six minutes playing against men. Which one’s worth more? Yeah. Right. And before anybody says, “Oh, but he’s got to get used to North American ice.” This is a guy who played in the OHL before going back to to to to Europe, right? So, he knows how to play on small ice. I don’t think that’s necessarily a problem, right? So, it’s about the the the ability to develop and the Canadians saw the same thing with Oliver Kappa. So, they decided go be a first-line center in Sweden as opposed to being a third line center in Laval and having to fight for minutes. uh and then come back and join us in the playoffs, which he did for both Montreal and now Laval. So, just something to keep an eye on when it comes to Roar. Uh definitely a forgotten prospect, but not for the Montreal Canadians. What about the fact that maybe some detractors will say, “Margo, Marggo, Marco, the Canyons have a bunch of single hitters. Maybe they got a double in there somewhere. Their home run is with the NHL club and his name is Ivan Deidov.” But other than that, yes. But on the guys on the comeup, right, you’re we’re talking about uh the Logan Mayus, the David Rhybackers, we talking about Owen Beck. Who else are we talking about? Collectively, the detractors might say, “Okay, great. Volume is fun, but who are the game breakers there?” So, walk me through what’s your your clapback to the detractor that said, “Oh, good on volume, but you don’t have any gamebreakers there. Good on you, Habs Nation.” Game breakers rarely play in the AHL. They generally go straight to the NHL, right? Like, let’s be honest. Look at all the look at all the game breakers in the league right now. Did Capri off play in the AHL? No. Cucharov uh very little if I remember correctly in the AHL. And he wasn’t supposed to be what he was supposed to become, right? Uh you look at some of the top scorers in this league like it’s very little time is spent in the American Hockey League dominating. Usually it’s a couple of g it’s like 30 40 games and poof you’re up with the NHL team, right? Um so just just my two cents on that. The you know having game-breaking talent, it’s more common for a game-breaking defenseman to go through the AHL route or or just like a top a guy who ends up becoming a top pair defenseman. It’s more likely for that to happen than a top line player going through the AHL. Very just just on law of averages. You can agree or disagree. That’s fine. But the law of averages indicates that top end forward talent goes straight to the NHL. So the idea here is I agree the Canadians do lack game-breaking talent. They got it in Ivan Demadov. They still need more. Um and that can come through committee where you have a bunch of guy like multiple 20 goal scorers across your lineup. Maybe add a 30 goal scorer. You know, we’re talking about this like they grow on trees but they don’t. And then you you you you look at your prospect pool, right? And a lot of people will say, you know, everybody thought that Cole Coughfield was going to be a 30 to 40 goal scorer in the NHL, right? I think, you know, once the size detractors went away, I think it was pretty evident and the only reason he went to play in Laval is because the Canadians didn’t didn’t want to rush him too much. But then you have a guy like Nick Suzuki who was scoring a 100 points as a 17-year-old in the OHL. They just brought him on straight to the NHL and slowly worked his way up the lineup. So, they got to find talent like that. You look at a guy like Owen Beck, the value that Owen Beck has is not that he’s going to be a game-breaking talent. It’s that he’s going to be such a clutch piece in all situations for the Montreal Canadians. And he’s doing it right now for Laval where he’s taking key faceoffs. He’s attacking the net. He’s making things happen offensively. He’s being physically dominant despite not necessarily being a big guy, right? He’s six foot, but he’s laying bodies out there. And I think that’s the transferable skills. You look at a guy like David Rybacker. David Reinbacker has turned heads. I could tell you. I’ve spoken to scouts that have been watching him and they’re like, man, if it wasn’t for the if it wasn’t for the health issues this season, no one would be like everyone would be talking about David Ryan backers probably. I always remark I always go back to when you and I shared a studio and we were we were reacting live on the morning show to the Canadians selecting David Ryaner in that generational offensive draft. And I remember telling you that the word is his fundamentals are so good. He’s going to be so quiet. He’s almost going to be, and I don’t mean a direct comparable, but you know, we never see Carrie Price making those crazy getting back into position, diving stops because Price was always rock solid in his in his technique. I believe David Rybacker is kind of like that. He does the detail work very very well. Yeah, the details are strong in him for sure, right? But what I think we’re starting to see now is a little bit more offense, right? He’s more impactful in the offensive zone than many gave him credit for. Good shot. Scored a good goal. Um I remember against the uh the Americans in game one where he attacked the net like there was chaos going on and normally a safe defenseman is going to back off to the blue line because they’re fighting for a loose puck. No, no, no. He attacked the slot. Yeah. and took a shot off that beat Devon Levi or he’s taking a lot more shots from the point. And one of the things I really like from David Rybacker is his shots get through and hit net which you know if you’re a Mike Mat detractor that was like that that was a big deal. Lane Hudson had very had a very difficult time doing that on a regular basis as well but David Rybacker has that ability down Logan too. Well, Logan, it’s We’ll get to Logan in a second, but Logan, it’s not about his shots getting through traffic. It’s It may get through the netting. So, it’s more when you look at David Rybacker, it’s such transferable skills that if healthy, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be able to play on a third pair in the NHL because he can clearly keep up. The only thing I want to see more from David Rybacker as we continue is more consistency when it comes to moving the puck up the ice with pace. Right. Right. Just being able to scan, being able to see who’s available and making the right play because sometimes he gets nervous, just dumps the puck. And again, you’re that he’s that kind of defenseman. You want to make the safe play, but if he can add that element on smaller ice with consistency because he’s really good at skating the puck up the ice himself. But I just want to see him make the right first pass in transition. And if he can really nail that skill down, he is going to be a cannot miss top four defenseman on the Montreal Canadians for years and years should his health allow. You know, we talk about the AHL playoffs and we’re talking about, you know, uh guys on the come up, you know, Montreal Canadian uh players that will be competing for NHL spots, right? David Rybacker obviously very much in the mix. Uh Logan Mayu, let’s go back to game one against Rochester in the North Division final. Scores a big goal. Um he’s he’s he’s almost in every situation when he’s on the ice and then it culminates with the crescendo of the point shot deflected by Kenan pass Levi Laval wins. Great back and forth game. I think it was the best game played on that night if I recall, NHL included, in a in a thrilling back and forth. But, um, let’s talk about Logan Mayu’s, uh, I want to say maturation with more room to go, right? Like he’s not he’s not a shining diamond, they’re still polishing him up. Is that a good way to describe him today? Yeah. Yeah. But I think if you play your best hockey in this kind of a situation, yes. It absolves you from whatever hiccups and and bumps in the road you may have had during the season. And I think teams are looking at, you know, they’re they’re I expect there to be a lot of scouts in Laval uh in their three games there if they if it does go to that uh to to the distance and they play their five games. But I know that, you know, the the the couple of games they played in Laval in the in in the second round, there were scouts in the stands paying close attention because look around the league right now. Look around the NHL. Do a quick search. Look at how many right shot defenseman there are. Maybe 60. 70. 70. And I feel like if you insert David Rybacker Yeah. Pardon. Montreal has two of them on the comeup. Yeah. On the comeup. Exactly. But if you insert a David Rybacker or a Logan Mayu onto most of NHL teams third pair, they would probably look the part. And I think that’s the key, right? So you’re seeing them now kind of develop. So you look at a guy like Logan Mayu. Logan Mayu from the offensive blue line out like like in in the offensive zone. Absolute dynamo offensively just great shot, great mobility, great skating, good instincts, physical so he’s not necessarily put under pressure from heavy forch. Excellent. In the neutral zone, it’s a little bit of a mixed bag. You want to see him make the better like it’s the opposite of Brian Becker. Make the safer play for more often than not. Uh, if you could fuse Logan Mayu and David Rybacker, you would probably have a Norris candidate defensive. Wow. Literally. But so the way that you look at at Mayu is is just being able to make the right play in transition. You’ve seen it more and more lately where it’s good for his pass or it’s the right dump in to allow for for the cycle game to continue. And then defensively, and I think that’s the key right now is sometimes, you know, he’ll get the there’s going to be a battle in front of the net for positioning. He gets too emotionally invested, gets way too physical, pulls himself out of the situation because his emotion get the best of him. Unfortunately, that’s the maturation we’d like to see him go through. Like in game two, took a penalty in the last two the three minutes of the game with with Laval down a man in the defensive zone. Like it was just such an unnecessary uh penalty. And I think that’s the kind of aspect where they would like to see him take another step from a from a maturity perspective. And I think when that eventually happens, that’s when you’re going to see him really take off. But again, you brought up that that that closing game uh against the Cleveland Monsters that he looked that was a perfect game for him. He looked dominant. So the Canadians don’t have a player like him in their lineup right now, right? You can say, “Oh, Lane Hudson is is is God on the first power play wave.” Yes, but I’ve been saying this since day one. Lane Hudson’s biggest weakness is he is not a shooting threat. And until he is able to become a a shooting threat and he’s able to get pucks through and they can they can converge onto the net and crash the net and get some dirty goals on the power play, then you’re going to need a guy like Logan Mayu potentially on your second pair that can actually get pucks through the net, which he does with such regularity. So there is the value in that. And I he has the size, he has the physical toughness, he has the speed to keep up. It’s a question of continuing to teach these players because if Logan Mayu hits, he’s a top four defenseman in the NHL. Oh. Um I wonder if Lane Hudson has slept or all is is he only just shooting pucks? Like part of me like in a weird way obviously he’s not 87 but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has the work habits of Crosby. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? I remember somebody in I think it was Crosby’s third year in the league. Oh, you can’t you can’t score goals. Oh yeah. Okay, hold on a second. Oh, you can’t win faceoffs. Oh, really? Okay, hold on a second. Let me show you. You know what I mean? like the guy is so vaz and I think Lane Hudson is is cast from the same mold as a Sydney Crosby in terms of the wanting to always be better. Kent Hughes said it in 2022 right before the draft where he brought up wanting to draft guys that are elite at consistently getting better. Yes, I love that. and he brought up Brad Marshaw who, let’s remember, Brad Marshon was a third round pick, was not supposed to was supposed to be a third line player and eventually, you know, evolved into an 100 point player for the Boston Bruins. He’s a Hall of Fame player. He’s a Hall of Fame. So, think about think about that. That’s exactly who they think Lane Hudson is. Correct. I would And that’s it. Like remember in Gallagher’s heyday, it was like you wish you can plant them in a field and grow a crop of Gallaghers. You know what I mean? Like, who doesn’t want that? I I feel like that’s like the synopsis for Shameless. It’s a good TV show. I couldn’t I tried to get into it. I tried. I’m watching it now, but like there’s just Gallagher everywhere. So, I feel like um maybe I’ll give it another look. Maybe I’ll give the idea the idea with with that kind of situation with that kind of player that’s consistently getting better like that. To me, Brian Backer constantly getting better. Game after game, you’re seeing him be more and more involved. uh a guy like Owen Beck consistently just adding layers to his game. Those are guys that are going to be very very difficult to deny spots within the next year, right? And then you have Florian and Jack guy who’s mixing it up, getting physically involved, causing chaos in front of the net, you know, u getting in the rough and tumble during the whistle. So there’s a lot of transferable talent there. And the one guy we haven’t brought up that I feel is the most untalked about prospect in the pros for the Canadians right now is Adam Angstrom. Yeah, sure. Adam Angstrom’s mobility. Sometimes you could see him in the in in the offensive zone just skating around guys just dancing and being able to shift them out so that he’s able to make space for himself to make a play, right? that kind of transferable skill, that that talent, that skating ability alone will, in my opinion, give him a a nice long career in the NHL, whether it’s with Montreal or otherwise. But that kind of defenseman to me is more valuable on your third pair, long term, than maybe a guy like Jaden Strug. Hab fans have been waiting a long time for their team to be described in such a way. And uh for some of you that are watching uh you’re kind of new to this, welcome. I’m glad you didn’t have to go through as perhaps as much as pain and suffering as some of some of us have had to. But as we know, through Andy Defrain’s incredible journey in the Shaw Shank Redemption, you can crawl through half a mile of and come out clean on the other side. And it looks like that’s what the Canadians are on the cusp of doing. Marco Demo at M and Demo online and through RG Media in season, offseason, all season. Marco, great stuff as always. I hope you all enjoyed this. Thank you so much for being a loyal supporter. Like, subscribe, support us by supporting our sponsors at bedonline.ag, a trusted space in the online gaming community for the better part of 30 years. Marco, thank you so much and looking forward to what’s on tap when we reconvene in a week’s time with a whole new batch of stuff because there is no offseason. Marco, thank you, sir. Always a pleasure, guys. Enjoy.

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Shaun Starr and Marco D’Amico take a deep dive into the prospects around the Montreal Canadiens system. The boys look at the Laval Rocket and a suprise that’s emerged from the World Hockey Championship.

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