Eventually, a lack of talent comes back to hurt teams. As hard as Laval tried this past week, they just don’t have enough talent to score with consistency and that proved to be problematic as they dropped three of their four games.
Over the last couple of seasons, the Habs have added quite a few defencemen to their prospect pool. As we reach the top 20 in our rankings, this next group is full of blueliners from that shift in their approach.
February was a month of contrasts for Montreal’s prospect pool. In Laval, injuries decimated their roster and no one really had a big month offensively. Meanwhile, at the junior level, there were some impressive performances that earned them one of our three stars.
The injuries continue to pile up for Laval which has put a dent in their production. However, they were still able to tread water last week, picking up a pair of victories in their four games to hang around the mix of avoiding the play-in round for the playoffs.
The depth of Montreal’s prospect pool really starts to show in this group. There’s a strong case to make for most of these players to be in the top 20 but because of the volume of prospects currently in the organization, they come up a little short.
Laval did a nice job rebounding from a tough loss in Toronto but unfortunately, their week ended on a low note after a very tough blown lead on home ice that allowed division rival Belleville to come in and steal a victory away.
After the start of their week was delayed by several players entering COVID protocol, Laval headed out on the road for a trio of games. They managed to pick up a big win in Rochester, however, that was sandwiched by a pair of tough losses.
After a stint on the road, Laval was back home for an important series against division rival Syracuse. The Rocket made the most of it, sweeping all three to move up to third in the division in points percentage.
The 2022 Olympics are underway and while NHL players won’t be participating, the Habs will still have some representation in the event with two of their prospects being selected to play. As is our tradition, we’ll keep track of their stats here.
While the week ended on a disappointing note, it was still a good showing for Laval in the second half of their road trip as they managed to pick up three of a possible four points off the top team in the AHL.