With a hot start to the 2025-26 NCAA season for the Michigan Wolverines, scoring nine points in the first four games, Hage is certainly an early candidate for the Hobey Baker award. He has looked stronger and even more confident with the puck to start the season and could be signing his entry level contract by the end of the season with Montreal if he continues the early dominance throughout the NCAA season.

Hage was downright electric as a freshman for the Michigan Wolverines last year. He scored over a point-per-game rate on a much offensively weaker Michigan team than we have been accustomed to. While he was second in points on Michigan, Hage was far and away their most dynamic player. Rush offense is the name of Hage’s game, and this style of play is highly projectable to the NHL. With Nick Suzuki establishing himself as the Canadiens’ first-line center, it would not be shocking to see Hage fill in as the second-line center one day. He is set to return to Michigan next year for his sophomore campaign and will have a lot more help as the Wolverines have brought in Henry Mews( CAL), Jayden Perron (CAR), and projected first-round picks Cole McKinney and Malcom Spence. Hage will likely sign his entry-level contract in spring after his NCAA season is completed. He is one of the brightest players in a loaded Canadiens prospect pool and could easily contend for the Hobey Baker award next year.

Michael Hage and the Montreal Canadiens were a perfect match. Having grown up a Canadiens fan, Hage fulfilled his late father’s dream of seeing his son put on the ‘St. Flanelle’, and will fit perfectly in the city with his bilingualism and close ties to Quebec. In terms of his fit as a player, Hage’s high-end skating and non-stop intensity will make him a fan favourite for years to come. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes believes he will fill a top-six role, potentially at centre, or potentially on the wing once he makes the NHL.

Hage was selected 21 overall by the Habs.

Hage is another riser on many boards, as he has found more and more consistency in leveraging his elite tools to create sustained offense at the USHL level as the season has progressed. His powerful and agile skating paired with high-end handling skill and on-puk composure make allow him to dominate junior competition in transition. Offensively, too, he can turn nothing into something in the blink of an eye; unpredictable and adaptable on-puck, and riding defenders’ blind spots adeptly to get himself to high-danger positions in and around the slot. He refined his defensive work-rate and reads early this season, and while his high-end projection hinges on the offensive skill, the defensive game is no longer the liability it once was. He can still fall victim to trying to do too much on his own, and a few years with the University of Michigan will certainly help him round out his game in needed ways, but beyond the Top 10 of the draft, few players can match his dynamic on-puck game and offensive upside. (April Rankings: #20)

Hage seems to have heard the music and has been red-hot since our last ranking. Having encountered every challenge a young athlete can take on and still improving to this degree is nothing short of remarkable. He has a real mastery of timing, spatial awareness and pressure that is quickly making him one of the more dynamic playmakers in the draft. It’s become a regular occurrence to see Hage make passes through both a backchecker and looming defenceman right and barrel the contact that follows. He seems to be reading play better in general, something that likely reflects his growing accustomed to the USHL pace. If he keeps trending in his current direction, I hope to see him land in undisputed first round territory, it would be a truly poetic way for him to wrap up his season. –

November 2023 Coming off of an injury that had him miss out playing with a stacked Chicago Steel team featuring Macklin Celebrini, Jayden Perron and Zam Plante among others, Hage has inherited a completely different, much less skilled and much less experienced team. Touted as a cerebral two-way forward in his D-1, Hage has been trying to take the brunt of Chicago’s offence on his shoulders to … mixed results. More often than not Hage can be found cheating for offence, falling behind on plays and struggling to think on his feet. However, the moments where things click are usually spectacular. Hage is an insanely talented dual-threat that has 1v5 jaw-dropping skill, but to stay in the first round conversation, he will need to figure out how to tap-in to that skill more consistently. – David Saad