This year, a total of 9 members of the HW staff cast their ballots.  To
avoid having one person skew the rankings too much, the high and low were
dropped for each player, so the rankings are determined based on the average of
the other 7 votes (denoted as Average Rating).  Where
applicable, the previous rating is noted for players who were in the Habs’
system last season.

Gone from last year’s list are the following:

Criteria: Eligible players must…
1) Be 24 years of age or younger as of October 1st, 2010 
2) Have less than 40 games of NHL experience (regular season + playoffs) 

3) Have NHL affilation to the Canadiens, AHL only contracts are not eligible

Ties are broken by the highest
non-eliminated (high or low) ranking.

The Rankings:

He plays well defensively and he can hit.  That in itself should make
him a useful NHL’er for years to come.  What will turn him from a useful to
an impact one will primarily be his offence and skating.  The former
improved last year but the latter didn’t.  If he can put it all together,
he could be a key building block moving forward.

Everyone roots for the little guy and our writers are no exception. 
Desharnais took another step forward this season as he was one of the most
dominant forwards in the AHL and looked okay in a six pack of games with
Montreal.  Though he has his drawbacks (particularly skating), most of our
writers think he’ll buck the trend and become a successful NHL’er despite his
size.

He’s shown he can score with the Bulldogs but that success has eluded him
thus far at the NHL level.  Fortunately for him, his defensive game
continues to improve which kept him with the Habs down the stretch last season. 
With so many centres in the system though, one can’t help but wonder if he’s
running out of chances.

Most fans were caught by surprise that Montreal traded up to get him but it’s
not hard to figure out why they did.  He instantly becomes the second
tallest defenceman in the organization (behind Hal Gill) and he loves to hit. 
His development should be expedited playing for the OHL’s London Knights this
season.

He took a step back in several respects this past season as his offensive
game declined while there were more concerns about his defensive game. 
That’s the bad news.  The good news is that most still project him to be a
regular d-man in the NHL that can run a powerplay.  He also made his
Olympic debut for Switzerland, going pointless in 5 games.

Kristo had a solid freshman season with North Dakota.  However, the
highlight of his season was a gold medal championship at the World Juniors where
he averaged a point-per-game in arguably his coming out party.  There were
concerns over whether he could be a top-6 winger in the NHL but those are quickly
being put to rest.

Leblanc had a strong freshman campaign at Harvard, leading the team in
scoring and PIMS, showing there’s some edge to his game.  Now that he’s
opted to play in the QMJHL, most feel his path to the NHL will be quicker. 
He’s projected to be a top-2 centre with size, something the Habs could
certainly use.

The key return in the Jaroslav Halak trade, Eller will have a lot of pressure
on his shoulders this season.  Fortunately, his play last year suggested he
should be able to live up to the expectations.  Most figure he has a spot
on this year’s roster which explains the unanimous #2 selection from our
writers.