October’s Top Prospects – HabsWorld.net

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October has been an eventful month for many of Montreal’s top prospects with several star-worthy candidates as our monthly Three Stars returns.

Laval

1st star: Anthony Richard – He was an interesting signing over the summer as a consistent secondary contributor, but didn’t have much luck being a top line. Richard has that chance this season with the Rocket and although it took him a few games to find his footing, he finished the month on a four-game goal streak (and kept his game solid in November). On merit, he should be the first recalled if injured (although prospect development may outweigh merit).

Statistics: 8 GP, 4 goals, 2 assists, 6 points, -5 rating, 20 shots, 2 PIMS

2nd star: Brandon Gignac – I was really happy when Gignac re-signed for another two years. There are glue players every team needs and he is one of them. As well as being an energetic defensive player who can move up and down the lineup, he showed an ability to rack up points in the second half of last year and that continued into the start of this season. . A solid start.

Statistics: 7 GP, 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points, tied rating, 14 shots, 4 PIMS

3rd star: Gabriel Bourque – There were times last season when Bourque was invisible offensively and others when he looked like an impact scorer. In the first two weeks, he was last as he scored in each of Laval’s first four games of the season. Otherwise, in a quiet month for many players, that’s enough to land the third star.

Statistics: 8 GP, 4 goals, 0 assists, 4 points, -1 rating, 15 shots, 4 PIMS

This is normally the part where I would add an honorable mention, but to be honest there really isn’t anyone else worth mentioning. Instead, we’ll go with a second honorable mention among other prospects.

Other perspectives

1st star: Joshua Roy (Sherbrooke, QMJHL) – Although there is a risk of development stagnation by sending him back to junior, the Habs didn’t really have a choice since he couldn’t go to Laval. Roy is off to another high-end start and does so without the second and third leading scorers who have moved on. This is a good thing. What will really make his season successful or not is his development in the areas of improvement, but that’s not something we’re technically getting into with this particular series.

Statistics: 11 GP, 6 goals, 12 assists, 18 points, +7 in the standings, 51 shots, 6 PIMS

2nd star: Owen Beck (Mississauga, OHL) – First things first, it’s worth mentioning that Beck has done pretty well in the preseason, all things considered, which is taken into consideration with this placement. But these games were in a defensive role. The offense was a question mark for him, which helped him slip into the second round. Well, he’s certainly trying to answer those questions early on as he’s quickly become one of the Steelheads’ top threats. We know he’s the kind of prospect with a high floor with his hustle, defensive play and face-off ability, but if he takes big steps forward offensively this season, his stock will increase.

Statistics (OHL): 10 GP, 7 goals, 8 assists, 15 points, +5 on the score, 25 shots, 6 PIMS, 59.4% faceoffs

3rd star: Riley Kidney (Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL) – With Hendrix Lapierre now in the AHL with Washington, Kidney is now the Titan’s go-to player. (Developmentally, it’s at least a different challenge for him.) Early results are more than promising as he picked up where he left off a year ago, again without the type of supporting cast of 2021-22. He’s someone whose spot for Canada at the World Juniors probably isn’t set yet, so that kind of start certainly helps on that front.

Statistics: 14 GP, 5 goals, 14 assists, 19 points, -5 rating, 65 shots, 12 PIMS, 50.5% faceoffs

Honorable Mention 1: Jared Davidson (Seattle, WHL) – Davidson will be hard to gauge this season. As someone old enough to turn pro, he’s expected to dominate, but as a fifth-round player, is that really fair? For at least a month he lived up to high expectations as one of the best players for the Thunderbirds, a team that looks to have the potential to make some noise in the WHL this season. I wish he had at least had a look at Laval first, but it’s hard to argue with early results.

Statistics: 9 GP, 7 goals, 10 assists, 17 points, +10 ratings, 39 shots, 10 PIMS, 61.1% faceoffs

Honorable Mention 2: Jakub Dobes (Ohio State, NCAA) – There’s a really good case for Cedrick Guindon here, but I’ll pick the goaltender. After a stellar first year, I wasn’t sure what to expect for an encore. For the most part, Dobes has been the same hard-hitting goalkeeper as last season, although there have been a few breakages along the way. It’s rare to have a perfect month though and right now it looks like he’s picked up where he left off, which is exactly what Montreal was hoping to see from him.

Statistics: 10 GP, 7-2-1 record, 2.25 GAA, 0.917 SV%, 1 SO

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