Prospect Profile: Nathan Beaulieu

Name: Nathan Beaulieu

Birth Date: December 5, 1992

Birth Place: Strathroy, Ontario

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 191 pounds

Hand: Left

Drafted: 2011, 1st round, 17th overall by the Montreal Canadiens

Drafted in the fourth round of the 2008 QMJHL Draft by the Saint John Sea Dogs, Beaulieu's father was briefly the head coach until being replaced by Gerard Gallant. This made Beaulieu strongly reconsider playing with the Sea Dogs, but he eventually opted to stay with the team after speaking with Gallant.

Noted as an offensive defenseman with an edge, Beaulieu is another good, young defenseman that is good on the powerplay, reliable in his own end (whether it be with a stick check, or taking the body), and overall a great skater. Eliteprospects describes him as such:

"A defenseman with fast, strong skating. Moves the puck well and is very useful as a playmaker on powerplay. Has a strong shot and good vision. Uses his stick well defensively and can be physical, when needed."

Vastly improving since his rookie season with the Sea Dogs where he scored only 10 points in 49 games, Beaulieu scored 45 points in each of the two following seasons. This season, you ask? Through 49 games, Nathan has an outstanding 51 points (11 goals, 40 assists). Add to that an incredible +42 and 91 PIMs (verifying his edge or nastiness, as some say), and I'd say this 19 year old defenseman is doing at least a few things right.

And now, we watch:

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The kid has a great shot, great agility, and even a little bit of swagger (as much as I hate that word). Remind you of any other Habs' defensemen? Hint: P.K. Subban. I'm not sure I want to imagine Subban and Beaulieu running the point, that's going to be deadly.

Montreal's bad season aside, they've got some good reinforcements coming in on their blueline soon. Very soon, Habs fans.

Prospect Profile: Nathan MacKinnon

Birth Date: September 1, 1995

Birth Place: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Height: 5' 11"

Weight: 179 pounds

2011-2012 Junior Team: Halifax Mooseheads of the QJMHL

Position: Right Wing

Hand: Right

Born in 1995, MacKinnon isn't eligible for the NHL Draft until 2013, but he's already projected to go first overall. He's drawn a lot of comparisons to Penguins superstar, Sidney Crosby, especially being from the same city as Crosby. In fact, he seems to be following a lot of Crosby's footsteps. Along with both being from Halifax, MacKinnon also attended the same boarding school as Crosby (Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota. There, they both became elite scorers. MacKinnon's astonishing 101 points in 58 games still wasn't enough to beat Crosby's record of 162 points in 57 games.

After attending Shattuck-Saint Mary's for two years, MacKinnon was drafted first overall by Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the QJMHL. However, since MacKinnon does not speak French, it was believe he would play in the USHL unless his rights were traded to a different team. He was subsequently traded to the Mooseheads, where he would make his major-junior debut.

Dude has 62 points in 43 games so far this season, along with a +6. Not too shabby for a first year player in the Q. I don't see him becoming as dominant a player as Sid, though. Crosby outscored this guy in Juniors by a longshot, but then again, you never know what could happen. MacKinnon is still really young. Born in 1995? Jesus, I feel old.

Here's a video of him with a 5 goal performance:

So, the kid's definitely really good, there's no denying that. I just don't know if I see him being the third coming of Gretzky or anything. But again, what do I know? Not much, I bet. One thing I didn't like though was he had a clear pass up ice for the empty net goal, but he was a little selfish and took it himself. Four ain't enough? Meh, no matter to me, it just seems like you'd want to share the wealth a little, but I digress.