December was a good month for the Habs but it was a quieter month for many of their prospects, many of which had extended holiday breaks. Nonetheless, a handful stood out among the rest to earn a spot in our three stars.
1st Star: Joshua Roy – From a skill perspective, Roy remains well above average. While he doesn’t play with a high motor, he sees the game well enough to take the extra split-second to make the right read and good things often happen from that. However, his game-to-game success level fluctuated as there were ones where he and his line were largely non-factors. Cleaning up that consistency will go a long way toward getting him another look with the Habs in the second half of the season.
Stats: 10 GP, 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points, even rating, 0 PIMS, 40 shots
2nd Star: Owen Beck – The rookie hasn’t seen a lot of time on the top line this season but he did get a bit of time there last month as the lines started to get mixed up a bit more. While the end result wasn’t Beck’s best month of the season, he finished tied for second in points for the month and tied Roy for the team lead in goals. If that’s a quieter month for him, I think the Habs would certainly take it.
Stats: 10 GP, 4 goals, 3 assists, 7 points, +5 rating, 7 PIMS, 27 shots
3rd Star: Adam Engstrom – Like Beck, this was a bit of a quieter month for the rookie but there were still plenty of positives. Engstrom earned the trust of the coaching staff to spend some time on the top power play unit and his skating allows him to mitigate some of his mistakes. Defensively, the number of miscues started to pick up which knocked him down a notch here and that’s something he’ll need to work on.
Stats: 10 GP, 1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points, +3 rating, 10 PIMS, 16 shots
Honourable Mention: Florian Xhekaj – Was he really deserving of this spot based on his play for the whole month? No. Let’s face it, he only managed to get a shot on goal in two of ten games. But one of those games was a doozy with a five-point effort. Those are hard to come by at any level, especially the pros. Now, finding a way to be impactful offensively on a more regular basis is the next thing to work on as defensively, Xhekaj has fared relatively well thus far.
Stats: 10 GP, 3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points, +2 rating, 39 PIMS, 5 shots
1st Star: Ivan Demidov (SKA, KHL) – The month certainly had its downs as for the first few games, playing time was rather difficult to come by. Fortunately, sandwiched in between those moments was a stint at the Channel One Cup and a chance to play a more offensive role. Then, after Montreal’s management visited (and St. Petersburg had some injuries), Demidov was elevated up the lineup and the production picked up with goals in four straight games to end the month. The road has been bumpy at times but the first half of his season has certainly been solid.
Stats: 7 GP, 4 goals, 2 assists, 6 points, +4 rating, 0 PIMS
2nd Star: Tyler Thorpe (Vancouver, WHL) – While it’s his post-draft year, age-wise, it’s his second post-draft year which is always an important caveat to consider when looking at the numbers. But Thorpe is producing at a much more consistent rate even compared to the second half of last season when he started to take off. Yes, his skating is a big area of weakness in the long run but for now, he’s making the most of things and was Montreal’s top-producing prospect last month as a result.
Stats: 11 GP, 5 goals, 8 assists, 13 points, +5 rating, 7 PIMS, 49 shots
3rd Star: Owen Protz (Hamilton, OHL) – While production is never going to be a big part of his game, I expected Protz to have more of an impact in that end this season along with his usual snarl and physicality. It took a while but he showed some promising signs last month, checking in just below a point per game. He’s someone who might be in tough to land a contract if he just stays as a hard-hitting blueliner so showing some flashes of upside in other facets like he did last month can only help his cause.
Stats: 10 GP, 2 goals, 7 assists, 9 points, -1 rating, 4 PIMS, 15 shots
Honourable Mention: Vincenz Rohrer (Zurich, NL) – Oliver Kapanen easily could have been the pick here as well but I wanted to mention Rohrer who could very well be next year’s Kapanen as the prospect who signs and then surprises many by making a run at a roster spot in Montreal. His playmaking was strong last month while logging around 16 minutes a night. That won’t be his calling card in North America (he has more of a bottom-six profile) but having some success in a top-six role in the pros is certainly a positive sign.
Stats: 7 GP, 1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points, +3 rating, 2 PIMS
