Yesterday, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman released the midseason update of the under-23 NHL players and prospects rankings. When he released the September edition, seven Montreal Canadiens were on the list. Fast forward four months, and there are now eight members of the Habs organization on the 137-player rankings: Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, Alexander Zharovsky, Michael Hage, David Reinbacher, Zack Bolduc, and Oliver Kapanen. The 2025 second-round pick Zharovsky is the only new entry to the list.
Pronman’s rankings are divided into six tiers; the first one is for elite NHL players, tier two for NHL All-Stars, tier three for bubble NHL All-Stars and top of the lineup players, tier four for Top of the lineup players, tier five for bubble top and middle of the lineup players, and tier six for middle of the lineup players. Let’s review where each Hab stands.
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Slafkovsky is the first player on the list and gets the seventh spot just like he did in September, but Pronman now has him in Tier three rather than Tier two, which is highly surprising given how much the big Slovak has improved in the first half of the season. What we’ve seen from him this season is a more complete and consistent player who now takes responsibility on his new line and is one of its driving forces, rather than a complement to his linemates. Perhaps the drop is due to his no longer being on the first line, but that would be a faulty conclusion, as his role is now larger.
Demidov is also in Tier two, just behind Slafkovsky in eighth place, a two-spot increase. Just like Slafkovsky, he’s dropped from Tier two to Tier three. Pronman still considers his skating below average despite the work the young Russian put in last summer and the change in his style, which is now much more fluid and efficient. He doesn’t have what the writer called an “awkward/knock-kneed skating stride” back in September. Given that the young Russian currently leads the rookie scoring race and just how spectacular his play has been, it’s surprising to see him go down a tier.
Hutson is the third player in the ranking, and he went from number 34 in September to number 14 in this edition, but he remains in Tier Four as a bubble NHL All-Star and top of the lineup player. While Pronman praises his offensive skills, he believes his defensive game holds him back in the rankings. Saying Hutson is small and will struggle for that reason is the easy way out. Anyone who has watched him play more than a game here and there can tell you that his defensive game has improved significantly. While the plus/minus is not the best stat around, the fact that he went from minus-two last season to plus-16 at this stage of his sophomore season should tell him something.
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Newcomer Zharovsky is Montreal’s fourth player in the list in 39th place and lands in Tier Six as a bubble top and middle of the lineup player. Pronman rates his skating and compete as average, while calling his puck skills and hockey sense above average. He sees him as a slick winger with the hands, creativity, and offensive IQ of a legitimate NHL scoring forward. It’s hard to comment on this one, as we’ve seen very little of his game aside from highlights, but his KHL numbers are both impressive and intriguing.
Hage is fifth and rose from 131 to 51, a significant increase which is well deserved. Pronman notes a history of inconsistent efforts but says he has improved in that regard recently. Anyone who saw him play in the World Junior Championship will agree that the effort was always there and that he’s very creative going up the ice. While success in that tournament doesn’t necessarily mean big success in the NHL, it’s hard not to be excited by what he showed in Minnesota.
Defenseman Reinbacher ranks sixth among the Habs and fell from 44 to 85. His hockey sense rating has gone from above average to just average, and he hasn’t written a profile for the 21-year-old. In 27 games with the Rocket this season, the right-shot defenseman has put up 12 points, and he’s the fourth defenseman on the AHL team’s scoring ranking behind Adam Engstrom, William Trudeau and Marc Del Gaizo. The right-shot defenseman’s development has no doubt been hurt by all the injuries he’s suffered in the last couple of years, but that’s hopefully behind him now.
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Winger Bolduc is now in 90th place, 10 ranks up from his September ranking. While his skating, puck skills, hockey sense, and compete are all listed as average, Pronman has his shot as elite. After the first half of the season, it feels like we’ve not seen enough from Bolduc, like there’s an unexplored level to his game that the Canadiens have not yet found a way to unlock.
Kapanen is the eighth Hab on the list, ranked 118, up from 139. Pronman has above-average puck skills, compete, and shot, with his hockey sense average and his skating below average. The Finn is currently fifth in rookie scoring this season with 27 points in 47 games, but he leads them all in goals with 16, an imposing number. Kapanen has excellent instincts on the ice and always seems to be in the right place to have scoring chances. He may not bury all his opportunities, but he still has an insane 18.3% shooting percentage, which, while really impressive, seems unsustainable. Still, I think Kapanen is just not getting enough respect for what he’s doing on the ice this season.
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