On Sunday night, the Kitchener Rangers left Kelowna with the Memorial Cup after beating the Everett Silvertips 6-2 in the final. Amongst the winners was a Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens]prospect, right-shot defenseman Andrew MacNiel. The soon-to-be 19-year-old is a defensive defenseman who was drafted in the sixth round by Montreal at the 2025 draft. Through 10 playoff games, the 6-foot-2 and 170-pound blueliner put up two points, both goals, including one game-winner. He finished the postseason with a plus-two rating and four penalty minutes. At the Memorial Cup tournament, he made the headlines with a no-holds-barred fight against Silvertips’ Jaxsin Vaughan on May 25, a spirited tilt which ended in a draw. Canadiens’ Caufield Took The Blame [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-caufield-took-the-blame] Canadiens' Gallagher Ripped Off The Band-Aid [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-gallagher-ripped-off-the-band-aid] Canadiens Have Big Question Marks On Defense, Starting With Xhekaj [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-have-big-question-marks-on-defense-starting-with-xhekaj] In the regular season, the blueliner put up seven points in 48 games and was assessed 47 penalty minutes. MacNiel plays a rugged game and needs to learn to land his hits on the right side of legality. The tough guy has a heart of gold, though. During the playoffs, he set up a fundraiser called Andrew’s Ambition for cancer research, through which he pledged to donate $2 for every blocked shot. On May 25th, the initiative had raised over $50,000 dollars, obliterating its $10,000 goal. Of course, MacNiel still has a long way to go before he can skate in the NHL, but he has an interesting mix of skill and brings a lot of physicality to his game, something the Canadiens are rather light on, especially if Arber Xhekaj isn’t there in the long term. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains]. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens. Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] on The Hockey News. Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I].
