The draft dust has settled and the free agent frenzy has come and gone. Now, as much of the hockey community exhales, it’s time for my favourite piece of summer hockey coverage: Prospect rankings.



This Canadiens prospect ranking focuses on upside; safeness/floor are irrelevant concepts here. I believe that the addition of high-upside prospects – top-line and top-pairing potential – is the best way to build an organization. These rankings will reflect that. I will rank players who I deem as having higher upside through superior puck skills, transition ability or offensive production higher than players who could appear in an NHL game as soon as next season but with limited star potential. Similarly, players who have already proven they can’t score in the AHL will feature lower than junior players who have yet to reach that level. I’d rather gamble on a player with a slight chance of being something than having the certainly of a player who is not...