2023 Montreal Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #14 Jordan Harris

Introduction

Jordan Harris is among, if not the most underrated young defenceman in the Montreal Canadiens organization. I always believed his simple yet effective game would translate well to the pro level, yet I never expected him to be such a well-rounded defensive rookie.

This year he falls from ninth to 14th, but that only confirms to me how underrated he is. I believe he is well on his way to establishing himself as a solid second-pairing defenceman.

Voting

I am yet again the top believer in Harris. In my eyes, he appears to be a solid third or fourth defenceman who can play with pace and chip in offensively. Not everyone regards him as one of the very top young blue-liners in the organization, but a place at 14th is still a feat in the current pool.

Last year, I saw him as the fifth-best player in the ranking. The only reason I slid him down the order this time was the strong showings from newer prospects.

T25U25 History

This is Harris’s first time dropping after holding steady in ninth place a season ago. He has one more year of eligibility in this project to climb one final time.

History of #14

Strengths

‘[Harris’s] hockey IQ and skating make me really hopeful about what is in store for this player. What’s more, his playing style, his attention to detail, and relative abilities with the puck give me many reasons for optimism.’ I said this in 2021, and I still fully believe that.

He showed that even at the professional level he has a well-rounded game, while also making one of the strongest pairs on the team last year, alongside partner Jonathan Kovacevic. As seen in the chart below, Harris with Kovacevic formed one of the most effective duos on what was an otherwise porous Canadiens team.

Harris brings a lot of offence and defence for what some consider a ‘smaller’ player. At 5’11” and 180 pounds, he isn’t a towering specimen who crushes his opponents. Rather, he is very smart with the puck, and plays to his strengths.

Harris is a good skater who works his edges well. He makes a good first pass and walks the blue line well in order to open shooting and passing lanes. He knows when to pick his spots, understanding and recognizing offensive and defensive opportunities.

He is adept at circling into the offensive zone and pushing back opposing attackers to open up lanes. What’s more, with his impressive skating, he can cover large swaths of ice in just a few steps, then use his lateral movement to increase his defensive range.

He calculates the risk and chooses when to push the play forward, and is rarely seen out of position due to his skating ability. He closes the gap quickly and gets back into a defensive position to resume the rush the other way.

Defensively, he protects the puck well, knows how to use his stick for gap control, is good at puck distribution from his own zone, and understands when to try an outlet pass. He stands out the most is in his ability to defend against opposing rushes, often preventing them outside of his zone before they can become a threat.

Weaknesses

Harris’s well rounded game makes it tough to really latch onto a single thing he does poorly. He doesn’t have one standout ability, but does everything well. His biggest trait is his steadiness and the fact that he doesn’t often stand out with a glaring mistake

He needs to jump on those key offensive opportunities and add a certain layer of complexity to his offensive game. Right now, his offensive output and plays are rather simplistic. He doesn’t use his speed and agility to create a harder read for opposing defences, and he lacks deception in his attacks.

While that criticism from last year is still true to an extent, he fared much better offensively against NHL competition in his first full season than I was expecting. His 17 points in 63 games showed that he has some untapped offensive potential. That aspect of his game should be the focus for this year, as his defensive acumen is already fairly strong. Adding a level of deception or complexity to his fairly simple offensive game would go a long way into knowing if he’ll fall more on the side of being a 3-4D or 4-5D.

Projection

Harris is an intriguing player. He is not the most imposing physical presence à la Arber Xhekaj, nor the guy who will wow you with sheer skill like Lane Hutson, but rather the type of defenceman you need in your defence corps if you wish to win a Stanley Cup. He isn’t flashy, but everything he does, he does well.

What you’ll get with Harris is a little bit of everything: a smart, solid, two-way defenceman who has everything needed to become a steady presence on a blue line for years to come. He is the glue that keeps your pairings well-balanced.

His skill set is tailor-made for the professional game, as long as he keeps progressing the way he has. He will never receive much hype, but he is a quality player who should have a spot on an NHL blue line. If the Canadiens are smart about it, they would do well to keep him around for the future, especially to help the influx of talent coming up in the next few years.

As it stands, Harris will need to keep improving and finding ways to up his production as more and more left-shot defenceman start breathing down his neck. There are enough specialists in the system to combine for more than what Harris can provide a pairing on his own, so he will need to stay one step ahead of the next group of players coming into the system.

Hadi Kalakeche joins Patrik Bexell to discuss Jordan Harris.

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