In Hainsight: World Junior Championships – Four Habs to Watch

With so many players from last year’s championship team graduating to the NHL, Canadiens’ prospect Owen Beck will be one of just two players (Boston Bruins’ prospect Matthew Poitras being the other) returning to defend the title won last January. Last year, Beck only made the team thanks to the injury suffered by Colton Dach in Canada’s last round-robin game against Sweden. He registered one assist in the three games he took part in.

Since then, Beck, who was drafted by Montreal in the second round of the 2022 draft, has played his first NHL game and is a much more experienced player who will be expected to take on a leadership role at this year’s competition. He’s playing his third season in the Ontario Junior League (“OHL”) this year, and prior to leaving his team, the Peterborough Petes, for the World Junior Championships, he had 30 points in 25 games. He’s not all about points, though; Beck is a good two-way center and is somewhat of a face-off wizard, meaning he should be called on for some important assignments.

While Juraj Slafkovsky won’t be loaned to Slovakia for the tournament, their other 2022 first-round pick, Filip Mesar, will be taking part in the tournament for the third time. Mesar has spent the better part of his season with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL for a second year in a row. If some were worried about his lack of impact in the junior league last season (51 points in 52 games), Mesar is producing at a much higher rate this time around. So far, in 20 games, he’s got 32 points to his name. In a full 68-game season, that projects to 109 points.

During the last World Junior Championship, Mesar gathered six points in five games, two goals, and four assists. Slovakia fell to Canada in the quarter-final, but the Champions needed extra time to get past Slovakia as Mesar had the primary assist in the game-tying goal scored halfway through the third period by Libor Nemec. It was Conor Bedard who shattered the Slovak’s dream, five minutes into overtime with the game-winning goal.

The other two Canadiens’ prospects to compete in the upcoming World Junior Championship will be doing so with Team USA. Offensive defenseman Lane Hutson will likely be the Americans’ top blueliner as he returns to the team for a second tournament. Last year, he played seven games and got four points as the Americans won the bronze medal in an 8-7 thriller.  Hutson had the primary assist on the overtime goal by Chaz Lucius in overtime.

Last season with Boston University, Hutson gathered 48 points in 39 games. This year, he’s got 20 in 15 games with the Terriers and if he keeps producing at this rate, his totals projects to be 53 points. It is believed that at the end of his second season in Hockey East with Boston University, Hutson will be ready to sign his entry-level contract with the Canadiens.

Finally, one of the three goaltenders the Canadiens selected at the last entry draft, Jacob Fowler, will also be playing for Team USA. He will be one of seven Boston College Eagles to compete for the USA. Returning netminder Trey Augustine should be handling the lion’s share of the work, but should he falter, Fowler will be ready to step in.

In his first season in the NCAA, Fowler has an impressive 13-3-1 record with stellar numbers. His GAA stands at 2.16 and his SP is currently at 0.925. The Canadiens will no doubt be keeping a close eye on him since Carey Price’s early retirement (in all but name) has left them somewhat hanging. They did extend Samuel Montembeault for three years, but clearly, they feel they’ll need a goaltending upgrade when they are finally ready to compete.

So, until December 26, enjoy the Christmas break, and don’t forget to cheer on your teams’ prospects; they’ll need it!