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January wasn’t the best of months for the Habs but it was Laval’s best one of the season while many unsigned prospects had strong showings as well.  Here are our three stars for the month.

Laval

1st Star: Cayden Primeau – Admittedly, the players in the first half of this column aren’t going to qualify as true prospects as it was the veterans that largely carried the way.  Primeau was the best of them.  Instead of sulking upon clearing waivers and being demoted, he has been lights out most nights.  The Rocket won every game he played last month which helped vault them back toward the top of the standings after being in a bit of a funk.  He’s playing well enough to earn another chance with the Habs at some point down the stretch (perhaps when they decide they want Jakub Dobes to get a bit more playing time).

Stats: 8 GP, 8-0-0 record, 1.73 GAA, .927 SV%, 1 SO

2nd Star: Laurent Dauphin – Between some injuries and line juggling, Dauphin spent most of last month on Laval’s top line.  While he’s more of a two-way player, Dauphin certainly produced like a number one centre, leading the Rocket in scoring for the month while averaging over a point per game.  There has been plenty of speculation about who to recall if some of Montreal’s centres get moved but Dauphin getting converted to an NHL deal and spending some time with the big club (and allowing the prospects to keep playing bigger roles in Laval) is a legitimate possibility.

Stats: 11 GP, 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points, +7 rating, 6 PIMS, 33 shots

3rd Star: Alex Barre-Boulet – Admittedly, Barre-Boulet doesn’t dominate games like I thought he might.  But in terms of getting himself on the scoresheet, he’s getting pretty consistent at putting up the points.  He’s a big part of Laval’s veteran top line (often with Dauphin and Rafael Harvey-Pinard) and should be down the stretch as well.  That said, I don’t think he’s much of a recall candidate at this point.

Stats: 11 GP, 2 goals, 9 assists, 11 points, +3 rating, 2 PIMS, 24 shots

Honourable Mention: Noel Hoefenmayer – Logan Mailloux could have landed here but I wanted to highlight Hoefenmayer, an acquisition that largely went under the radar (with Jacob Perreault going to Edmonton).  He wasn’t playing in every game when everyone was healthy but he’s giving the Rocket a second legitimate offensive threat on the back end (with Mailloux) while allowing Adam Engstrom to focus more on the defensive side.  Hoefenmayer is probably going to play a big role for the Rocket down the stretch which is a nice addition considering all they gave up was someone who wasn’t playing and wasn’t going to be re-signed.

Stats: 9 GP, 1 goal, 5 assists, 6 points, +3 rating, 6 PIMS, 18 shots

Other Prospects

1st Star: Ivan Demidov (SKA, KHL) – It appears that the training wheels are now off Montreal’s top pick from the 2024 draft (although things can turn on a dime, evidently).  Demidov was a regular in SKA’s top six last month and put up numbers that were strong enough to keep him there; he logged at least 15 minutes in nine of his 11 games.  He’s now set the KHL record for most points by an under-20 player; things are certainly on the rise for him.

Stats: 11 GP, 9 goals, 5 assists, 14 points, +2 rating, 6 PIMS, 42 shots

2nd Star: Jacob Fowler (Boston College, NCAA) – While he had one game he’d like back last month, the other six Fowler played in were quite impressive.  He’s legitimately in the mix to be the top goalie in the NCAA this season and could plausibly garner Hobey Baker consideration as well.  It’s hard to ask for much more than that.

Stats: 7 GP, 6-1-0 record, 1.43 GAA, .947 SV%, 2 SO

3rd Star: Oliver Kapanen (Timra, SHL) – Part of the decision to send him back to Sweden after spending the first month with the Habs was allowing Kapanen to get a lot of playing time and play in all situations.  Both of those are certainly happening as he’s Timra’s top middleman and getting loads of minutes.  He’s also hovering close to the point-per-game mark on the season (as he did in January as well) which is impressive for a youngster.  Looking ahead a bit, I’ll be curious to see if he winds up finishing in North America once his SHL campaign comes to an end or if he’ll be on the radar for Finland at the Worlds instead.

Stats: 10 GP, 5 goals, 4 assists, 9 points, -1 rating, 4 PIMS

Honourable Mention: Luke Mittelstadt (Minnesota, NCAA) – One of Montreal’s more forgotten prospects after a quiet sophomore season, Mittelstadt started to show a bit more of the offensive creativity he did in his freshman year.  While he’s undersized for the back end, there’s an intriguing skill set if he can find a way to produce more consistently.  Here’s hoping last month was a step in that direction which would help his chances of getting signed considerably.

Stats: 8 GP, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points, +4 rating, 2 PIMS, 18 shots, 6 blocks