Canadiens: 5th best youth bank, according to The Athletic

Originally posted on Dose.ca | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 11:03 AM ET

This week, Corey Pronman (The Athletic’s prospect expert) published his 32 profiles of the young players on every team in the Bettman circuit. Big assignment, you say?Basically, he takes the U23s from each organization and ranks them 32 to 1. Since he unveiled his eight best clubs today and his eight worst clubs on Monday, we figured he’d be talking about the Canadiens later in the week, obviously.

The 2025-26 NHL Pipeline Rankings roll out this week, taking a look at the best U23 players in each NHL organization https://t.co/4BOrP4MnWz

– Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) August 25, 2025

And as a result, the CH is now ranked fifth in the rankings. You’d think the CH would be in the top-2, since that’s often where prospects are ranked when analysts talk about the Habs’ youngsters.

For example, the Sharks are in first place with Macklin Celebrini, Michael Misa, Sam Dickinson and Will Smith in the top-4. Taking established players into account (which is a good method, as colleague Tony Patoine does ) makes the state of things more… representative. content-ads]It pushes the Canadiens down the rankings, given that Ivan Demidov isn’t the only top talent in the analyst’s rankings… but it also allows us to include the Juraj Slafkovskys and Lane Hutson of this world. By the way, it’s Slaf who’s at the top of the rankings.

Once again… Ivan Demidov makes a spectacle of himself.

He’s all over the rink.

Ah, and he really seems to be building something with Patrik Laine. That’s interesting too… @DLCoulisses pic.twitter.com/gXLOETgwxm– Marc-Olivier Cook (@Cook_Marco) August 27, 2025

Why put Slaf ahead of Demidov? I guess the fact that he’s already established on a top line affects the ranking. But clearly, Pronman likes Slaf’s tools. His size, speed and skill are all cited as reasons to mention that he can scare opposing defenders when he uses his body the right way.

Even if he doesn’t become the biggest point producer, Slafkovsky can become a star in the NHL.

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Corey Pronman

Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher and Zachary Bolduc round out the top-5. I invite you to read the full text of The Athletic to see the expert’s picks.The Sharks, Blackhawks, Mammoth and Ducks, in order, are ahead of the Canadiens in the top-5. [spacer title=’Overtime’]- Enjoy.

Podcast @passion_mlb with @SebasBerrouard: the Blue Jays’ bullpen, the Shane Bieber case, Adley Rutschman’s future and the American MVP on the menu https://t.co/XsAf avgpIQ –

Charles-Alexis Brisebois (@Charles__Alexis) August 28, 2025

– Interesting.

If Montreal manages to part with Sunusi Ibrahim, the club would have the opportunity to recruit a free player as early as this season.

Although the transfer market closed on August 21, the MLS freeze won’t take effect until September 12.

Until then, the team can still … https://t.co/h0wwAb21uJ –Nilton Jorge (@NiltonJorge) August 28, 2025

– Indeed.