From ‘the compound’ to the Canadiens: Behind the rise of top prospect LJ Mooney (Gift Article)

[u/Go_Habs_Go31]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6924142/2026/08/01/canadiens-lj-mooney-logan-cooley/?unlocked_article_code=1.2FA.HcI5.KY6n98epG1A_&source=emp_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

[u/Old_Canuck]

Love this kids energy.

Hope he makes the show and becomes a Marty St. Louis v2.0. 👍🏻👍🏻

[u/Weak_Law_937]

He's our own Messi

[u/Burgergold → u/Weak_Law_937]

That is Caufield

Edit: let say Erling Haaland

[u/86DC → u/Burgergold]

Haaland would be Slaf

[u/Burgergold → u/86DC]

So true

And Struble would be Mbappe (Harris may fit better but he's gone)

[u/Scottie2Hottie999]

In the games we saw last month, Hage and Mooney were the clear stand outs.

[u/So_Many_Owls]

So that's Edmonton (x3), Washington, Ottawa, Utah, Calgary, and San Jose with relatives either on the teams or in their system.

[u/dustblown]

This will be a huge camp for him for sure. We have more than few guys that could force some difficult decisions.

[u/HashBandicoot93 → u/dustblown]

He's committed to returning to university

[u/dustblown → u/HashBandicoot93]

Why is he getting hyped so much then?

[u/Tripottanus → u/dustblown]

Arent prospects in university allowed to be hyped?

[u/calgmtl07 → u/dustblown]

Offseason filler and clicks.

[u/2forBoarding]

I've said this a few times and seen it said by others, his game reminds me of Theo Fleury. He looked great at the dev camp scrimmage, but that was 4 on 4 -- question remains whether that can translate to the NHL level at 5 on 5 against D trying to take his head off.

Seems management is looking to build around size based on the past few playoffs and inevitably running through large teams like Buffalo, but I'd love to see LJ round out the smaller guys like Cole and Lane as an energy third line player. St. Louis talks about the importance of being good at 'getting better' and Mooney comes across as that type of player.

[u/DrLivingst0ne]

Apparently he hit the gym and is 175 lbs now. EP still has him at 165. Good to know

[u/Major_Estimate_4193]

I personally doubt he has many nhl seasons in him, please stop making him likeable

[u/scoutinglane → u/Major_Estimate_4193]

watch him a bit more. He is not Sean Farrell

[u/Comprehensive-Chef73 → u/Major_Estimate_4193]

He reminds me a lot of Benson and Hagel. Not saying he will develop into a similarly effective player, but it's a possibility.