2024 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: The 15-Year Ranking

Introduction

Since it has been 15 years since the very first version of our Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25, a summary of the project’s history seemed in order. This summer, the total number of players we’ve considered for the rankings since 2010 reached 205 players. That’s an average of 12 new members of the organization added each year following the inaugural pool of 34 players to kick things off.

Rather than just list all the players alphabetically with their ranking history, we tried to put together an all-time ranking of sorts, placing the most impressive showings over a period of eligibility at the top, to those who were never projected to become NHL players at the bottom.

This isn’t an official list to place much stock into because not everyone was on an equal playing field. The criteria for ranking the players has evolved over the years, the number of players has grown and shrunk, and some of the earliest ranked players don’t have full seven-year histories to paint a complete history of their development paths. Even so, it is interesting to see how the prospect pools of different iterations of the team merge into one list.

To make the list, each of the 205 players had his rankings averaged, and those averages were sorted in ascending order. Ties were broken first by giving preference to those who had the most appearances in the project to reward consistency of ranking high, and then by the highest placing a player had if there was still a deadlock.

All-Time 25 Under 25

Keeping in mind that it’s not a perfect methodology to directly compare players from different years, it’s possible to look at the players who had the most impressive showings. The top finishers are presented in an All-Time 25 Under 25.

Rank	Player	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
1	Price, Carey														1	1
2	Galchenyuk, Alex								1	1	1	1	2	3
3	Subban, P.K.												1	1	2	2
4	Domi, Max						1	2
5	Suzuki, Nick		1	1	1	1	5
6	Drouin, Jonathan						3	1	2
7	Demidov, Ivan	2
8	Slafkovský, Juraj	1	5	3
9	Sergachev, Mikhail									3
10	Caufield, Cole	3	2	2	2	3	7
11	Kotkaniemi, Jesperi				3	2	2	6
12	Pacioretty, Max												3	2	3	7
13	Eller, Lars												4	4	4	3
14	Dach, Kirby	4	3	5
15	Pouliot, Benoit															4
16	Beaulieu, Nathan									4	3	3	6	5	5
17	Guhle, Kaiden	6	4	4	5	8
18	Scherbak, Nikita							8	7	6	4	6
19	Leblanc, Louis												9	6	6	5
20	Reinbacher, David	7	7
21	Kassian, Zack										7
22	Kristo, Danny													9	7	6
23	Danault, Phillip								4	11
24	Lehkonen, Artturi						8	3	3	5	12	9	13
25	Gallagher, Brendan									2	2	2	5	7	14	24

At the top sits Carey Price, and it’s hard to argue that the player who defined the Canadiens era he played in shouldn’t hold that position, even if we’re only taking into account his sixth and seventh years in the organization. Now that his career is over, the fifth-overall selection from the 2005 NHL Draft is in the conversation to get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for his work not just with the Canadiens but on the international stage as well.

This section houses eight players who are currently in the system, including two prospects — Ivan Demidov and David Reinbacher — who have yet to play an NHL game. It’s a sign of how strong the pool currently is, but also a product of a slight change in the ranking procedure to take a more long-term view of the players, which has prospects ranking higher in recent years. In the earliest iterations, NHL experience was a major advantage. Now we see NHL players ranking in the late teens.

I think it’s fitting that Brendan Gallagher battled his way into the final spot despite making his debut at 24th. Staff members of EOTP were just some of the players the winger forced to re-evaluate his game over the course of his career.

Top 100

All-Time Rank	Player	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
26	Poehling, Ryan				6	9	4	7	14
27	Hutson, Lane	5	6	13
28	Newhook, Alex	8	8
29	Tinordi, Jarred										9	4	7	8	10	11
30	Collberg, Sebastian												8	10
31	Pyatt, Tom															9
32	Mete, Victor					7	6	4	12	19
33	Boyd, Dustin															10
34	Hudon, Charles							5	5	8	5	10	10	28
35	Bournival, Michael										11	5	12	12	12
36	Romanov, Alexander				3	4	9	26
37	Lindgren, Charlie							10	6	16
38	de la Rose, Jacob							11	10	15	6	7	17
39	Weber, Yannick													13	8	12
40	Sekac, Jiri											11
41	Juulsen, Noah					12	10	9	7	13	17
42	Barron, Justin	18	11	6
43	Roy, Joshua	9	9	7	22
44	Beck, Owen	12	10	14
45	Andrighetto, Sven									9	8	8	26
46	Palushaj, Aaron													14	9	16
47	Hage, Michael	13
48	Ylönen, Jesse		20	12	8	13	14	13
49	White, Ryan													15	13	13
50	Maxwell, Ben															14
51	Bitten, William							14	15	14
52	Norlinder, Mattias		31	16	4	5	16
53	Carle, Mathieu															15
54	Smith-Pelly, Devante										15
55	Farrell, Sean	22	15	8	10	21
56	Mailloux, Logan	10	16	20	15
57	Avtsin, Alexander													27	11	8
58	Brook, Josh				13	14	11	16	24
59	Fleury, Cale					11	13	15	25
60	Mesar, Filip	20	18	10
61	McCarron, Michael						29	23	9	10	10	21	14
62	Thomas, Christian										14	17	19
63	Struble, Jayden	15	22	18	11	15	20
64	Primeau, Cayden		29	11	7	6	12	17	36
65	Carr, Daniel									7	16	28
66	Fowler, Jacob	11	23
67	Harris, Jordan	17	14	9	9	16	25	30
68	Xhekaj, Arber	14	17	21
69	Bozon, Tim									28	18	15	11	18
70	Nygren, Magnus											12	15	26	19
71	Nash, Brendon														18
72	Rychel, Kerby							18
73	Réway, Martin								21	12	13	14	33
74	Desharnais, David															19
75	Vejdemo, Lukas					17	17	22	23	18	21
76	McNiven, Michael				20	22	18	18	13	29
77	Kidney, Riley	29	19	15	17
78	Geoffrion, Blake													20
79	Mitera, Mark														20
80	Morrow, Joe								20
81	Mysak, Jan		32	19	12	18
82	Evans, Jake					10	15	12	16	20	35	35
83	Tokarski, Dustin											13	29
84	Dumont, Gabriel										23	22	20	25	21	18
85	Ikonen, Joni					35	20	20	11
86	Kapanen, Oliver	19	26	25	16
87	Dietz, Darren										24	23	18	21
88	Trotter, Brock														16	27
89	Bennett, Mac										25	26	24	17	17	21
90	Pateryn, Greg											16	21	23	27
91	Emelin, Alexei															22
92	Harvey-Pinard, Rafaël		13	17	18	30	34
93	Audette, Daniel							34	22	17	19	20
94	Fucale, Zachary								26	23	22	19	22
95	Olofsson, Jacob				25	25	19	21
96	Engström, Adam	16	12	40
97	Bourque, Simon								17	21	30
98	Ellis, Morgan										27	24	16	11	25	34
99	Engqvist, Andreas													31	15	23
100	Holland, Patrick											27	25	19

A couple of other active players sit near the top of the next section. Alex Newhook could improve his average with a great year in a top-six role. Lane Hutson is a likely candidate to rise up among the top performers before his eligibility ends in 2028.

There are a lot players who showed high potential at some stage in their development, and also several players who have gone on to have good careers.

Bottom half

All-Time Rank	Player	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
101	Leskinen, Otto				26	23	22
102	Heineman, Emil	27	21	24
103	Johnston, Ryan									24
104	Valiev, Rinat							24
105	Lernout, Brett							25	18	22	26	30
106	Thrower, Dalton									38	28	18	23	16
107	Teasdale, Joël			29	19	28	24
108	Andersson, Lias		25
109	Koivu, Aatos	25
110	Olofsson, Gustav						25
111	Nättinen, Joonas										38	31	28	22	22	17
112	Pribyl, Daniel													29	24
113	Friberg, Max								28	25
114	Grégoire, Jeremy								27	25	20	25	36
115	Tuch, Luke	31	34	31	14	24
116	Matteau, Stefan									27
117	Quailer, Steve												32	24		26
118	Rohrer, Vinzenz	28	28	26
119	Konyushkov, Bogdan	21	35
120	Hillis, Cam			41	24	19	30	27
121	Berger, Alain													34	23
122	McShane, Allan						28	29
123	Addison, Jeremiah							33	19	30	34
124	Fairbrother, Gianni			33	21	29	33
125	Trudeau, William	30	27	32	27
126	Vail, Brady												27	32
127	Fortier, Olivier														31	28
128	Dobes, Jakub	24	24	28	33	39
129	Blunden, Mike														30
130	Schultz, Ian													38	33	20
131	MacMillan, Mark									32	29	32	30	30		30
132	Simoneau, Xavier	32	30	30	32
133	Bishop, Hunter															31
134	Moravčík, Michal							31
135	Fonstad, Cole						27	36
136	Archambault, Olivier													35	28
137	Sklenička, David						36	28
138	Parisi, Tom								33	31
139	Eisenschmid, Markus								32
140	Pitlick, Rhett	40	39	35	30	26	23
141	Stapley, Brett			46	23	20	31	43
142	Didier, Josiah										32	33	31	36
143	Bradley, Matthew									35	31
144	Tyszka, Jarret							32	34
145	Wyman, J.T.															33
146	Xhekaj, Florian	23	45
147	Dichow, Frederik			23	35	37	42
148	Hawkey, Hayden								30	34	36	37
149	Eriksson, Filip	26	43
150	Walford, Scott							38	31
151	Conboy, Andrew														37	32
152	Guindon, Cedrick		33	36
153	Crisp, Connor									39	33	29	38
154	Trunev, Maxim											41	39	41	29	25
155	Mayer, Robert												35	40	36	29
156	Khisamutdinov, Arsen				37	33	35
157	Nystrom, Erik												34	37
158	Alain, Alexandre					34	38	35
159	Delmas, Peter												43	39	26
160	Protz, Owen	36
161	Pezzetta, Michael			22	36	40	41	41	37	36
162	Walsh, Dustin												42	33	34
163	Beaudin, Nicolas		37
164	Sawyer, Logan	37
165	Davidson, Jared	34	36	42
166	Lefebvre, Philippe													43	32
167	Condon, Michael											34	41
168	Miller, Quentin	35	40
169	Staum, Casey								38	37
170	Waked, Antoine						43	42	29
171	LeGuerrier, Jacob					36	40
172	Tourigny, Miguël		38	38
173	Perreault, Jacob	38
174	Verbeek, Hayden					41	37	37
175	Stejskal, Joe													42	35
176	Fournier, Stefan										41	38	37
177	Hanley, Joel										39
178	Nevins, Jack											39
179	Schnarr, Nate			39
180	Biondi, Blake	46	47	37	34	32
181	Gorniak, Jack			49	38	38	32	39
182	Smilanic, Ty	50	41	27
183	Volokhin, Yevgeni	33	46
184	Houde, Samuel						39	40
185	Koberstein, Nikolas						45	44	39	40	37	36
186	Mittelstadt, Luke	39	42
187	Sullivan, Colin									41	40	40	40	44
188	Thorpe, Tyler	42
189	Henrikson, Arvid			52	41	43	46	45	35	33
190	Vrbetic, Joe	48	49	34	39
191	Gordin, Alexander	54	54	51	29	27
192	Ruscheinski, Kieran					42	44
193	Condotta, Lucas			43
194	Khanin, Makar	43
195	Kostenko, Dmitri	51	50	45	28
196	Nurmi, Petteri		44	44
197	Merrill, Ben	44
198	Harris, Sam	41	48
199	Cichy, Michael												44	45
200	Sobolev, Daniil	49	53	47	31
201	Bergqvist, Rasmus	45
202	Smith, Jack	53	52	50	40	31
203	Kishel, Scott													46
204	Vecvanags, Mikus	47
205	Croteau, Emmett	52	51	48

Four members of this year’s Top 25 are found in the lower ranks of this list, with NHL roles still very real possibilities. We also find many familiar names who’ve been automatic placements in the final spots of our ballots over the years at the end.

With this look at all the players we’ve ever ranked, the 2024 edition of the Top 25 Under 25 comes to a close. But we’re now ready to see all these players we’ve been debating over the past month back in action, with many of the prospects on the ice together this weekend when they suit up against the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top young players.