Canadiens’ Prospects Shining at the World Junior Championships

While everyone tends to root for their own country in an international competition, Canadiens’ fans might have developed a soft side for Team USA. Our neighbors to the south count two of the Habs’ most interesting prospects in their ranks: offensive defenseman Lane Hutson and goaltender Jacob Fowler.

So far, Fowler has manned the net for two of Team USA’s games, facing Switzerland and Czechia. The USA made short work of the Swiss, dominating play from start to finish, signing an 11-3 win in which Fowler’s contribution wasn’t exactly key to victory. Still, Fowler made 21 saves on 24 shots for a .875 save percentage and earned himself another start against Czechia. If the Americans dominated the first frame, only allowing five shots on net in the first 20 minutes, the European side came back with a vengeance in the second period and the two teams were all tied up at 3-3 after regulation.

A winner couldn’t be crowned in the five minutes of overtime, and in the shootout, Fowler stood tall, allowing the USA to walk away with the win. With the win on the line, Fowler was calm and collected, only allowing a single goal to Jiri Kulich. Across the two games, the goaltender has kept a 2.88 GAA and a .872 SP. It’s probably not enough to claim the number one spot from returnee Trey Augustine, but it was still interesting to see him play.

Montreal’s most prized prospect in the competition, however, is Fowler’s teammate, defenseman Lane Hutson. So far, in three games, the offensive defenseman has gathered a couple of assists and been named man of the match for Team USA during the win over Czechia. In the nail-biting win, he spent 26 minutes and 16 seconds on the ice and got the primary assist on Ryan Chesley’s game-tying goal.

More than the stats, though, his style of play catches the eye. Hutson is a very smooth skater, and his above-average mobility allows him to control the play and put pressure on the opponent by occupying its zone and quarterbacking repeated waves of attack. That’s not to say the young skater is perfect, though; far from it, his game still needs polishing. His offensive instinct dictates the way he plays and made him go for it all the time. In Martin St-Louis’ terms, you could say that he’s not always doing what the game asks of him.

He likes going for the long pass to launch the attack, but the Hail Mary play doesn’t always work and can lead to turnovers. At times, the way he assaults the opponent’s zone reminds me of the early days of P.K. Subban, a dynamic player whose decision-making is not yet on point. If he can manage to overcome his size issue and stick in the NHL, he will definitely be entertaining to watch but he may give his coaches a few gray hairs with risky plays. Kent Hughes has already said he expects the sophomore to put pen to paper on his entry-level contract at the end of his current season, and you can expect to see him in at least one NHL contest this year to burn the first year of that deal.

On team Slovakia, Filip Mesar is shining brightly. The alternate captain has got six assists in three games, which makes him the fourth-highest scorer in the tournament so far. After Mesar failed to dominate in the OHL last season, many were ready to call him a bust but that was an uninformed rushed position to assume. Canadiens’ Director of Player Personnel and Amateur Scouting Martin Lapointe mentioned that sending him back to the OHL this season was the right move to make. Last year, he got used to the smaller ice surface, and this year, he’s a dominant figure for Kitchener, racking up 32 points in just 20 games, scoring 1.60 points per game on average. Last year, he was only getting 0.98 per game. He’s improved by leaps and bounds.

Still, statistical dominance at the junior level doesn’t guarantee success in the NHL, but when Mesar makes the jump to the professional game, he’ll be much more ready than he was in his first two seasons in North America. Tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM ET, Slovakia will take on Team USA in its biggest test so far and it will be interesting to see if Mesar and co. can hang on to first place in group B by taming the USA’s strong attack and, like Czechia, making the most of their exposed flaw, their defensive shortcomings.

Finally, the Canadiens have one last prospect competing for gold in Sweden this year in Team Canada’s Owen Beck. Beck is the only player who was part of last year’s gold medal-winning side, but that’s not to say he’s the offensive leader of the team. Those who have watched him play in the OHL know that one of his main weapons is his ability to win face-offs and that he projects as a third-line center in the NHL.

Named alternate captain for the tourney, Beck centers a line with Owen Allard and Nate Danielson that produced two of the five goals Canada scored in its opening match against Finland. Unfortunately for Beck, though, he received a questionable hit in the showdown against Sweden and had to leave the game momentarily. While he did come back, it will be interesting to see if he’s ready to go tomorrow for Canada’s final group-stage game against Germany. Even though the Canadians lost to Sweden 2-0 yesterday, they still have everything to play for. This Swedish side has yet to be scored on in the tournament so far and will wrap up its group stage against Finland tomorrow.

If everything goes according to plan tomorrow, the four Canadiens’ prospects should be making it to the knock-out stage and Canada should have a date with either Slovakia or USA come January 2^nd. Until then, enjoy the skillful hockey on display as we watch the group stage wrapping up.