Another year, another round of interesting additions for the Montreal Canadiens. With the 2024-25 campaign bringing a wave of graduations and developmental twists, it’s time to revisit the Canadiens’ prospect pyramid.
Ranking prospects is an arduous and often difficult task. How do you compare a certain bottom-six projection and a boom-or-bust prospect? What about forwards versus defencemen? And don’t even get me started on goaltenders….
That’s where the prospect pyramid comes in, allowing us to split the Habs’ future pieces into tiers. Here’s how those tiers break down:
Tier 1: Legitimate superstar talent.
Tier 2: Top line/top pair for skaters, top-10 starter in the league for goalies.
Tier 3: Top-six forward, #2/3 defenceman, or middle-of-the-pack starting goalie.
Tier 4: Middle-six forward, second-pair defenceman, or bottom-10 starter in the league.
Tier 5: Either surefire bottom-six/third pair potential, or boom-or-bust upside swings for skaters. Likely backup or slim odds of being a high-end starter for goalies.
Tier 6: High likelihood bubble NHLer, or very slim chance of being a middle-six/second-pair/starter.
Tier 7: Unlikely to play an NHL game.
The criteria to be eligible for this pyramid are as follows: the prospect must be no older than 23, and must not have played more than 41 NHL games.
With that out of the way, here’s how the Montreal Canadiens’ 2025 Prospect Pyramid breaks down:
Let’s break it down tier by tier:
Tier 1
Ivan Demidov
Alone in the superstar tier, Ivan Demidov has already shown flashes of what could be with his performance against the Chicago Blackhawks at the end of the 2024-25 regular season, and bits of potential on the power play against the Washington Capitals in the playoffs.
Highly dynamic with the nastiest mitts of any prospect in hockey, Demidov picks apart formations with his hands, attacks defenders’ feet, and finds increasingly creative solutions to ever-more-difficult problems. Add to that his playmaking and shooting skill, as well as his sixth sense for offensive space, and you have the blueprint of a potential game-breaker for Montreal for the better part of the next decade.
He’ll likely start the season on the second line. Expect him to get prime reps on the power play and slowly but surely gain comfort as he faces stronger and stronger competition.
That said, the top of this pyramid is bound to be bone-dry this time next year, barring a major organizational collapse and a lottery pick. Demidov is going to graduate, and no one else in the organization has the skill and upside to step up in his spot.
Tier 2
Crickets…
This tier is now empty. Last year, it was comprised of Lane Hutson and David Reinbacher.
So far, Hutson has exceeded all expectations, winning the Calder trophy and comfortably stealing Mike Matheson’s top power-play role. With a full NHL season under his belt, the dynamic diminutive defenceman has officially graduated and has left a vacancy in Tier 2.
As for Reinbacher, a major knee injury unfortunately hindered his development this season. From the get-go, the likely outcome for Reinbacher was a second-pair role, but there was room for more. Unless he makes up for a tonne of lost ground — his draft-plus-one season wasn’t a bright spot, either — he projects as more of a number 3 defenceman than a potential top-pair one, especially with Noah Dobson now in the mix.
Tier 3
Closing off the top 5
We’ve already covered Reinbacher, so let’s give the other top names in the system some love.
First up, Jacob Fowler. The Canadiens’ 69th-overall pick in 2023 briefly joined the Laval Rocket after dominating the NCAA and winning the Mike Richter award as the top goalie in college hockey in 2024-25. He looked brilliant at times, despite faltering in some games; a typical hurdle in young goalies’ first steps in pro hockey. As Fowler develops full-time in the AHL, expect him to slowly but surely get up to speed and develop that consistent game-to-game impact. I’d be shocked if he backs up Samuel Montembeault at any point this year, but his athleticism, freakish composure, and technical abilities make him a likely starter in the NHL once his game develops enough.
Meanwhile, Michael Hage’s point-per-game season in Michigan is par for the course. The Canadiens’ 21st-overall pick in 2024 has greatly improved his contact skills in the NCAA, and he showcased his new learnings at the Habs’ development camp, most notably in puck-protection drills. Seeing the Canadiens clearly targeting key development objectives with prospects outside of their organization is extremely promising. Hage didn’t exceed expectations production-wise this year, but he made essential tweaks to his game to become more projectable.
Finally, Alexander Zharovsky’s recent addition to the prospect pool offers a refreshing pure-skill element. Highly dynamic and creative, the Canadiens’ 34th-overall selection from this past draft needs some tweaking to his skating form and physicality, but certainly has the skill fundamentals to become an impactful top-six forward.
Tier 4
Hayden Paupanekis, Arseny Radkov, and Oliver Kapanen
We start Tier 4 off with Hayden Paupanekis, whom I recently called one of the steals of the draft. A 6’4″ right-shot centre with fluid edgework, great positional sense, and a high motor, Paupanekis is going to be a key contributor on the Memorial Cup-hosting Kelowna Rockets this season. Improving his skill base further in a top-six role will be key to see him reach his peak, but there’s room for a middle-six projection in his case.
Meanwhile, Arseni Radkov has a chance to stand out on a potential Memorial Cup-winner. The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada have one of the most dominant projected lineups in the CHL heading into this next season, and the 6’4″ netminder could very well steal a starter spot and take his team all the way. This next year could be a pivotal point in his development; there’s already starter potential through his combination of size, tracking and footwork. Add key North American tournament experience to that, and the Canadiens could very well have found a gem in the third round.
Finally, Oliver Kapanen’s game still lends itself to a potential middle-six role. Highly intelligent, defensively responsible, and already accustomed to pro hockey, Kapanen still needs to develop some more confidence in his skill, but could very well cement himself as an NHLer with a good pre-season run.
Tier 5
Joshua Roy, Owen Beck, and so many more
The most populous tier in the pyramid by a decent margin, Tier 5 starts off with the same prospects as last year’s Tier 4: Joshua Roy and Owen Beck.
Both failed to lock in an NHL role last season, but that time is coming. Roy’s development stagnated this season, but he still has time to find his game and become a third-line scorer through his release and offensive sense. As for Beck, he has all the makings of a premier third-line centre; his intelligence, skating prowess, and defensive stick make him a reliable checker, while his playmaking also offers a bit of offensive potential.
Florian Xhekaj has exceeded all expectations with his rookie AHL season. His 24 goals in 69 games for Laval indicate that the forward can bring offence to the table, while remaining an incredibly disruptive checking presence with a mean streak.
Among the boom-or-bust prospects, we find recent additions Bryce Pickford, L.J. Mooney, and Carlos Händel. All three offer some promising flashes of skill in different ways, but need to develop NHL-scalable tools to materialize their upside. Also in the boom-or-bust category are Tyler Thorpe, Sean Farrell, Aatos Koivu, and Evgeni Volokhin.
The more certain bottom-of-the-lineup futures are Logan Sawyer, Filip Eriksson, Adam Engström, Sam Harris, and Owen Protz. In Protz’s case, he has received an invite to Team Canada’s World Junior Summer Showcase, which could provide him with key experience he can leverage into better development.
Tier 6
Luke Tuch, Jared Davidson, and more interesting projects
Among the high-likelihood bubble NHLers, we find the likes of Luke Tuch and Jared Davidson, both of whom showcased some alluring checking skill. Regardless of where they play next year, both will have aged out by next year. We could even see Davidson play a handful of games with the Canadiens in case of injury, as the closest left-shot centre to the NHL in the organization. Both have their limitations, though, and are unlikely to unlock full-time NHL potential.
Among the interesting projects with still-decent upside we find Filip Mešár and Bogdan Konyushkov as the most notable names. Mešár’s development has stagnated considerably, but he still has a great foundation as a quick and toolsy winger. Meanwhile, Konyushkov’s translation to North America is the big question mark, as his skating deficiencies could hold back his ability to turn his intelligent reads into effective plays against the AHL’s harder forechecks.
A quick mention for William Trudeau, who has been quietly doing everything asked from him in Laval. He rarely stands out with flashy plays, but he is consistently effective. That might be enough to sneak into a game or two as a bottom-pair defender down the stretch.
Tier 7
The long shots
In the final tier, we find two recent additions in Maxon Vig and Andrew MacNiel, two defencemen with unusual development paths that usually don’t lead to NHL draft selections. Vig is a USHL over-ager who put up half a point per game this past season, and MacNiel is a massive, physical defenceman who wasn’t ranked by any outlets heading into the 2025 NHL Draft.
Among this group, the prospect who is most likely to climb up is Rasmus Bergqvist. The 20-year-old performed well at the 2025 World Junior Championship for Sweden and played almost full-time in the SHL with Skellefteå. He doesn’t offer much offensive upside, but he plays a diligent defensive-zone game and excels in box-out scenarios. That might be good enough to see him carve out a third-pair NHL role, especially if his skating improves further and he adds a more consistent breakout game.
The Canadiens traded two first-rounders for Noah Dobson, and somehow still have one of the most alluring prospect pools in the league. Kent Hughes and the Habs’ scouts have had a great eye for mid-rounders with upward trajectories, such as Florian Xhekaj and Filip Eriksson, while maximizing third-round value with selections like Jacob Fowler’s in 2023 and Hayden Paupanekis’s in 2025.
Moving forward, expect some of these prospects to be used as trade chips — the Canadiens only have so many roster slots, and too many futures to pick from. Meanwhile, as Hughes continues to package picks to trade up in the draft or acquire high-value NHLers, this pyramid will dry up quickly. Many of these names are already about to either age out or play their 41st NHL game this upcoming season.
The Canadiens’ future is in great shape, even without considering their historically young NHL core. Click the play button below to listen to our full podcast episode about the prospect pyramid.
Thanks for reading — follow me on X @HadiK_Scouting for more prospects-related content, and to keep up with the rest of my work.
