Introduction
Despite being completely different players, the Montreal tenures of Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach have been tethered at the hip. Both arrived as high-profile first-rounders who had seemingly plateaued with their draft teams. They arrived on or around draft day: Dach in 2022, Newhook in 2023. Both were exchanged for a substantial price on the basis that 1) the player would help the Canadiens more than the draft selections, and 2) the Canadiens could extract more from the player that they were getting.
Both Dach and Newhook took big steps in proving general manager Kent Hughes right during their first seasons in the Tricolore. Newhook recorded career highs in goals and points despite only playing 55 games. However, like Dach, the Newfoundlander took a step back in his second season in Montreal. Whereas Dach has been beset by injuries, Newhook’s post-inaugural season struggles stemmed from dips in productivity and consistency. Once a promising top-six forward candidate, the current conversation is moving toward whether Newhook should continue to be developed as an offensive threat, or if approximately 30 points a season represents the full extent of the 24-year-old’s capabilities.
Voting
Six of the 11 panellists, as well as the community vote, had Newhook either 11th or 12th in their ranking, with a range extending from eighth to 16th.
Last season, 55% percent of the voters, as well as seven of the 11 panellists, placed Newhook between eighth and 10th. Moreover, a full quarter of voters had him exactly at eighth place. This year, unsurprisingly, opinions are a little bit more varied.
In 2024, Newhook represented the start of a tier, with a substantial gap between himself and seventh-placed David Reinbacher. This year, he represents the end of a tier, with the largest gap in the Top 25 and second largest of the entire 55-player ranking between himself and 12th-placed Arber Xhekaj.
Last summer, Newhook was ranked the “best of the rest”, with everyone above him being a blue-chip prospect (yes, even Dach at the time) or an established top-tier NHLer. In 2025, Newhook’s ranking has him lowest of the players who could be considered bona fide regulars, as everyone below him does not have a guaranteed spot in the on-ice lineup coming into camp.
Top 25 Under 25 History
After two years in eighth place, Newhook drops three positions because of a lack of progression in 2024-25.
History of #11
Year
#14
2025
Alex Newhook
2024
Jacob Fowler
2023
Justin Barron
2022
Cayden Primeau
2021
Jayden Struble
2020
Cale Fleury
2019
Josh Brook
2018
Jacob de la Rose
2017
Joni Ikonen
2016
Phillip Danault
2015
Michaël Bournival
2014
Jiří Sekáč
2013
Tim Bozon
2012
Morgan Ellis
2011
Alexander Avtsin
2010
Jarred Tinordi
Strengths
Newhook’s greatest strength, as it was last year, is his versatility. He can play centre or wing, on the boards or in the middle of the ice, and as a forechecker or a high-forward. Indeed, he was deployed in all of these roles during the 2024-25 season as the Canadiens tinkered with their forward lines throughout the first half of the season. On any given night, he was about as likely to be fourth among forwards in ice-time as he was to be ninth or 10th. Even after the first, third, and fourth lines became set in stone, Newhook was still tasked with being the cornerstone of the second trio, shepherding Patrik Laine and a variety of third players through the home stretch.
Newhook’s versatility is powered by three main weapons. First, although the “almost Newhook” meme is arguably reaching “almost Lehkonen” territory, the St. John’s native can put the puck in the back of the net. Fifteen goals — all but one at even strength (tied for fourth on the team, by the way) — is nothing to sneeze at. If this is Newhook’s performance in a down year, that places his true ability somewhere around the 20- to 25-goal range.
Second, Newhook’s 15 goals were a bit of an underperformance, coming in below his 16.8 expected goals. This statistic is not surprising, given how some of the forward’s near misses tend to linger in the memory, but it is a testament to his hockey sense and ability to get to high-danger areas. This gives the Canadiens a firm foundation to work with. It is probably easier to improve shooting percentage than to teach offensive IQ, especially since he, a career 13% shooter, does not have a poor shot to begin with.
Finally, his most prominent weapon is his speed, which enables him to get into positions to leverage his other skills and tools. His speed is what makes him an effective forechecker. It lets him both backcheck aggressively and cover for other players’ defensive mistakes. It is what lets him jump into pockets of open ice before opposing defenders can notice. Microstat data shows that he, likely in conjunction with the Habs’ coaching staff, improved considerably in 2024-25 in how he leveraged and utilized this speed on the ice. He showed a marked growth in his capacity to generate offence from the cycle and forecheck (15th percentile to 73rd), defensive-zone puck retrievals (28th to 86th), and both controlled offensive-zone entries (20th to 82nd) and defensive-zone exits (6th to 86th).
Weaknesses
Newhook is currently Montreal’s Swiss Army knife. The problem with that is that while a Swiss Army knife is a fantastic tool in an emergency situation, it will never be the best, most optimized option for solving a specific problem. Newhook is a good forechecker, but he is not Brendan Gallagher. He is a decent shooter, but will probably never be Cole Caufield or Patrik Laine. He is effective on the boards, but cannot match Juraj Slafkovský. He is sound defensively at both wing and centre, but plays second fiddle to Jake Evans in both scenarios.
To that end, Newhook is capable of playing with almost anyone on the roster, but at the same time incapable of carrying them. This is probably best exemplified by his time last season with Laine. Newhook absolutely helped ameliorate Laine’s defensive issues at five-on-five, but the best he could manage was still a 42% on-ice goal share. A marked improvement from Laine’s 20% goal share value in Newhook’s absence, but a negative number nonetheless.
Projection
Heading into 2025-26, Newhook is poised to remain the linchpin of his line — the player tasked with delivering a constant, dependable return while surrounded by unknowns in Dach and Laine. If this comes to pass, Newhook will spend most of his time learning how to adapt to his teammates rather than honing and developing his own capabilities. However, if the Canadiens try to give Newhook a more favourable deployment, it still leaves them with the question of what to ultimately do with Dach and Laine.
There are two wildcards in this equation. One is newly arrived Zachary Bolduc, who is very similar to Newhook in that they are both 200-foot players capable of significant offensive contributions. A Bolduc-Newhook pairing would be either a step up for Bolduc into top-six deployments or a step down for Newhook into middle-six usage, but it would be an opportunity for Newhook to play his own game without the expectation of covering for a linemate’s clear deficiencies.
The other is Ivan Demidov. Newhook would likely revert to more of a protective role as the rookie continues to adapt to the NHL. However, Demidov’s elite talent represents Newhook’s best opportunity thus far to showcase that he is capable of complementing elite offensive talent — a key and necessary attribute for any player trying to fit into the top six that the Canadiens are building.
Newhook’s trajectory is difficult to predict. If he fails to make progress, the forward’s ceiling could be what he was last year — a 15-goal checking-line forward who is eminently useful, but hardly irreplaceable. If he makes strides in his offensive hockey sense, he could be another Paul Byron. If he improves his prowess at the faceoff dot, he could end up as a Jake Evans with more offensive pop. If he showcases an ability to play with elite talent, an Artturi Lehkonen. If he improves his finishing, the final product might even be something without a recent direct comparable: a reliable 25-goal second-liner.
Click the play button below to listen to our latest podcast episode, where Patrik Bexell and Kay Imam from “Game Over: Montreal” discuss Alex Newhook’s place on our list.