For most of this decade Montreal Canadiens fans have believed the salvation of their faded franchise rested upon rebuilding with the young players drafted and developed by the team. 

Habs fans for the past several years have trotted out the high rankings their organization received from websites and publications tracking prospect development for the club's supposed depth in promising talent. 

A quick look however at the fate of most of the players considered top prospects within the Canadiens system from 2000 to 2007 suggests those rankings may have been inflated. 

2000: The top three picks were Ron Hainsey, Marcel Hossa and Jozef Balej. Of the three only Hainsey is still playing in the NHL but in Atlanta, not Montreal, where he faces being relegated to second line defense pairing as young Zach Bogosian continues to improve. 

2001: Mike Komisarek, Tomas Plekanec and Alexander Perezhogin were the best of this bunch. Komisarek is considered among the league's best physical defensemen but now plays for Toronto. Plekanec is a strong second line center with first line potential but could be lost to the UFA market next July. Perezhogin now plays in Russia.

2002: Christopher Higgins was projected as a future Canadiens captain but after three 20-plus goal seasons he was shipped to the NY Rangers where he's played so poorly he's rumored to once again be on the trade block. 

2003: Andrei Kostitsyn, Jaroslav Halak, Maxim Lapierre and Ryan O'Byrne have made the club but none have yet to emerge as a true star. Kostitsyn's stock has fallen dramatically since his 26-goal, 53-point "breakout" performance two seasons ago. Halak is a capable goalie but he's yet to prove himself a full-time starter. Lapierre is a good checking line forward and O'Byrne has been hampered by injuries and consistency issues. 

2004: Kyle Chipchura was the Habs top pick that year but he's not even good enough to stick around as a fourth line center because of his skating. Mark Streit and Mikhail Grabovski have had better performances but with other teams as the Canadiens let Streit walk via free agency and traded Grabovski to the Maple Leafs for little in return.

2005: Goaltender Carey Price was the star pick in this draft but he's struggling to adjust to the heightened expectations of being the Canadiens "savior". It appears the Habs are guilty of rushing him before he was truly ready and mature for the role of starting goaltender. Guillaume Latendresse has yet to prove he's capable of being a power forward, Matt D'Agostini appears destined to become a checking line forward while Sergei Kostitsyn has played his way out of Montreal. 

2006: Only Ben Maxwell has played any games for the Canadiens, appearing in a grand total of seven last season.

2007: Max Pacioretty was touted as a power forward but he's shown that  ability only in spurts last season and even less this season. Yannick Weber played only six NHL games, and couldn't stick with an injury-ravaged Canadiens blueline early this season. PK Subban has been played up as the future of the Habs defense corps but that remains to be seen as he's yet to play an NHL regular season or playoff game. 

Of the Canadiens supposed depth of young talent who went on the play in the NHL, most of the better players - Hainsey, Komisarek, Grabovski and Streit - now play elsewhere.

Of those remaining, only Plekanec has emerged as a good, consistent player, but he's no superstar.

Price and Halak have yet to prove themselves capable starting goaltenders. The Kostitsyns have been major disappointments. Lapierre is an energetic checking line forward while D'Agostini could become one. Latendresse is a bust thus far as a power forward while Pacioretty is struggling to adjust to NHL play. Chipchura's slim hopes for an NHL career are dying and the jury remains out on O'Byrne.

For one bright shining season (2007-08) it seemed the Canadiens were at long last about to become a great team again, but it now seems that season was an anomaly. 

No one in this current group of young players have established themselves as superstars and it's doubtful any of them will.

Canadiens fans will likely protest that it's still too early to judge those youngsters currently playing for their team too harshly, that there's still plenty of time for those players to develop into the stars they were projected to be, and the Habs shouldn't give up on them. 

Maybe some of those players will become stars one day but if recent history is anything to go by, they'll likely be playing for other NHL teams when they finally reach that potential. 

The Canadiens future, it appears, has been built upon a weak foundation. Unless that changes soon, Habs fans should expect their team to be as mediocre in the next decade as it was in this one.