2026 Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #19 Owen Protz
Introduction
If you like big, old-school defencemen with a penchant for thunderous hits, look no further than Montreal Canadiens 2024 fourth-round pick Owen Protz. The Brantford Bulldogs’ resident bully will turn professional this season at the age of 20, and has made a name for himself as a fearsome presence on the blue line.
His point total fell off last season, but that was never really his game to begin with. Perhaps of more interest for a player who focuses primarily on defence was his +45 stat line, which was good for fifth in the entire OHL.
He signed his entry-level contract with the Habs back in March, and while he didn’t get the chance to debut with the Laval Rocket at the end of the season, that is where he is expected to start the 2026-27 campaign. With a lot of changes coming to the Rocket, Protz should get a solid chance to prove what he can do, and whether he can figure into the Canadiens’ long-term plans on the blue line.
Voting
Every panellist agreed that Protz belongs in this year’s Top 25, with placements ranging from 15 to 25. We’ve all seen how much of a grind the NHL playoffs are, and his potential to help the Habs compete there likely helped him with the votes.
I personally had him at 22 this year. I see a low ceiling, but a very high floor with a player who can play hard defensively as well as he does. Plus, with the dynamic defenders the Habs already have, they need that style more than they need another scorer on the blue line.
We’ve reached a different tier in the countdown. The largest gap between any two players in the full 55-player list is from Jared Davidson in 20th to Protz, at nearly four ranks in the nine-vote average. The 19 players from Protz onward are regarded as having strong odds of becoming NHLers.
Top 25 Under 25 History
Protz debuted in the “projects” tier back in 2024 with a ranking of 36. He played his way up to number 30 last year and now makes a big jump into the top 20.
History of #19
| Year | #19 |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Owen Protz |
| 2025 | Florian Xhekaj |
| 2024 | Oliver Kapanen |
| 2023 | Riley Kidney |
| 2022 | Jan Mysak |
| 2021 | Joël Teasdale |
| 2020 | Cam Hillis |
| 2019 | Jacob Olofsson |
| 2018 | Kerby Rychel |
| 2017 | Jeremiah Addison |
| 2016 | Victor Mete |
| 2015 | Daniel Audette |
| 2014 | Zachary Fucale |
| 2013 | Christian Thomas |
| 2012 | Patrick Holland |
| 2011 | Magnus Nygren |
| 2010 | David Desharnais |
Strengths
Protz has been described by many as one of the most violent defenders outside of the NHL, and certainly the most violent in the OHL. He has the size, weight, and reach that you like to see in defence-first prospects, and he isn’t remotely shy about using that size to land punishing hits. What’s more impressive about his hits is that he keeps the vast majority of them clean. He gets leverage by lowering his centre of gravity, then drives through his opponent with a tucked elbow. Violent he is, but he maintains control at a level far beyond his years.
His gap control against the rush is some of the best that I’ve seen from a Junior player. He patiently angles players to where he wants them to go, and when he decides to close that gap, he does so with authority. He doesn’t chase the hits he wants to land to put himself out of position, either. Again, controlled violence, as he does love to impose himself but remains mindful of where he needs to be defensively.
In the defensive zone, it is more of the same. He won’t charge out of position to land a hit, but will take the opportunity if it is in front of him. He uses his size and frame to protect the crease well, and keeps an active stick to disrupt passes. It stands to reason that he’ll be picking up penalty-kill duties in Laval, which, if he proves adept at handling, would certainly help him land on the radar for an NHL role in the future.
Weaknesses
While Protz moves the puck well coming out of the defensive end, his offensive upside is quite limited through the other two zones. He won’t be a big helper in transition, and his instincts for creating scoring opportunities in the offensive zone seem sporadic at best. Whether or not that is an impediment to his NHL future is extremely debatable, however, as his style of play makes him a good candidate to pair with another defenceman who does excel at those things. With the right partner, he can play the stay-at-home role and open things up for a more offensive-minded blue-liner. If you’re expecting him to lead transition and create attacking situations, you’d be setting him up for failure.
The big question is whether or not he was punching below his weight in Junior. He seems to have the defensive awareness and physical tools to play bottom-four minutes at the professional level, but there is an ocean between doing it in the OHL and doing it at the highest level in the world.
Projection
Protz’s graduation to the AHL this season should be very telling. He had a clear physical advantage in the OHL, and this is the chance for him to answer that big question. If he is still the same defensively stifling, physically intimidating player in Laval, we can start wondering more about when, not if, he’ll play in the NHL.
He brings something that every NHL team wants to have. Something that, frankly, the Habs have lacked on nights when they don’t have Arber Xhekaj in the lineup. If the coaching staff’s issue is that they don’t quite feel they can trust Xhekaj regularly, Protz’s mission should be to prove that he’s as reliable as it gets in his own zone.
He has the makings of a very nasty bottom-pairing defenceman in the NHL. If he can show that his game translates to the next level, he might go down as a bargain in the fourth round.
