NHL.com has started revealing its top-50 NHL players list right now on Sunday night, and there were no Montreal Canadiens in the 41 to 50 tier. How many will there be once the full list has been unveiled?
On Sunday, NHL.com unveiled the first part of its top 50 players list, and no Montreal Canadiens players ranked 41 to 50. Last season, captain Nick Suzuki was the only Hab to make the top-50 list, landing in 28th place. Will he be higher this season? Will he have some company on the list? The answer should be yes to both questions.
Earlier this month, Suzuki was named the ninth-best center in the league, while Lane Hutson was named the sixth-best defenseman. Cole Caufield was also ninth on the league’s top-20 winger list, while Jakub Dobes was named the 10th-best goaltender.
Last year, only four netminders made the list: Connor Hellebuyck (eighth), Andrei Vasilevskiy (ninth), Igor Shesterkin (26th) and Sergei Bobrovsky (36th). This year, Jeremy Swayman, the fifth-best goaltender according to the top-10 ranking, landed in 42nd place, meaning that Dobes won’t make the cut.
On the wing, Martin Necas (49th), Sam Reinhart (48th), and Brandon Hagel (47th) made Sunday’s list, and they were all behind Caufield on the top-wingers list, which means that the Canadiens’ sniper should make his debut on the top-50 player list this season.
On the blueline, Jacob Slavin was named the 45th-best player on Sunday, while Charlie McAvoy landed in 41st place. Both blueliners were far behind Hutson on the top-20 defensemen list. Slavin was 12th, and McAvoy was 11th, meaning that the Canadiens’ blueliner should also make his debut on the top-50 player list.
Montreal will have gone from having a single player on the ranking to three this season, and it’s far from outside the realm of possibilities that they see another influx of players next year. If Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov keep developing as they have, they too should be knocking on the door soon, just like Dobes if he can build on his formidable playoff run.
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