On June 28, the General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens Kent Hughes had caused a stir with the selection of the 18-year-old Russian striker Ivan Demidov 5th place in the annual National Hockey League draft, solidifying the impressive prospects the team already had.

But Hughes didn’t stop there. Thanks to a clever trade, he moved up with his second first-round pick and landed Michael Hage, a center who many experts already see as the league’s future second elite offensive center.

On Saturday the team Newspaper published his ranking of the best NHL prospect banks. According to these rankings, the Habs have the second-best group of prospects in the Bettman circuit.

The Canadian’s selection of Ivan Demidov in the last draft was almost unanimous, and for good reason. The Russian winger has the potential to become the megastar Habs fans have long dreamed of. There hasn’t been this much excitement surrounding the Canadiens’ potential bench in who knows how long. The light at the end of the tunnel is near.

Kevin Dube

According to this ranking, only the San Jose Sharks have better young players. In addition, the Canadian’s former recruiter Grant McCagg I made a statement to that effect a few weeks ago.

Montreal’s U25 roster is much bigger today than it was in 1976, when the club had four Stanley Cup winning seasons. Will any of them make the Hall of Fame like this group? Only if they win.

Grant McCagg

We invite you to view the full ranking below while the team at Newspaper carried out a very interesting exercise.