Canadiens Prospect Wins Memorial Cup

On Sunday night, the Kitchener Rangers left Kelowna with the Memorial Cup after beating the Everett Silvertips 6-2 in the final. Amongst the winners was a Montreal Canadiens prospect, right-shot defenseman Andrew MacNiel. The soon-to-be 19-year-old is a defensive defenseman who was drafted in the sixth round by Montreal at the 2025 draft.

Through 10 playoff games, the 6-foot-2 and 170-pound blueliner put up two points, both goals, including one game-winner. He finished the postseason with a plus-two rating and four penalty minutes. At the Memorial Cup tournament, he made the headlines with a no-holds-barred fight against Silvertips’ Jaxsin Vaughan on May 25, a spirited tilt which ended in a draw.

Advertisement

Canadiens’ Caufield Took The Blame
Canadiens’ Gallagher Ripped Off The Band-Aid
Canadiens Have Big Question Marks On Defense, Starting With Xhekaj

In the regular season, the blueliner put up seven points in 48 games and was assessed 47 penalty minutes. MacNiel plays a rugged game and needs to learn to land his hits on the right side of legality.

The tough guy has a heart of gold, though. During the playoffs, he set up a fundraiser called Andrew’s Ambition for cancer research, through which he pledged to donate $2 for every blocked shot. On May 25th, the initiative had raised over $50,000 dollars, obliterating its $10,000 goal.

Of course, MacNiel still has a long way to go before he can skate in the NHL, but he has an interesting mix of skill and brings a lot of physicality to his game, something the Canadiens are rather light on, especially if Arber Xhekaj isn’t there in the long term.