WHL Stars & NHL Debuts: Davidson defies the draft odds to suit up for Montreal

Montreal, Que.- You can’t say it better than Jared Davidson himself.

“Not getting the first opportunity doesn’t mean you’re done,” the young forward said back in 2023. “You just got to work harder and prove some people wrong. I think that’s kind of what I did. I continued to work and not give up on anything I did.”

After going unselected in the WHL Draft and being passed over twice in the NHL Draft, Davidson has clawed his way up through the ranks to make his NHL debut.

The 23-year-old took his first NHL strides in an Original Six throwdown between his Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.

Davidson took 10 shifts in 7:14 of ice time. registering four shots (including a high-danger chance on a rebound just in front of the blue paint) and one hit in a 3-2 loss.

Prochaine étape pour Jared Davidson: la LNH!

Welcome to the National, Davy!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/wHqKUPQJeq

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 15, 2025

The Edmonton, Alta. product earned the call-up to the show on Friday after a dynamite start to the season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

Davidson leads the team in goals with nine (including two game-winners) and is second in points with 11.

He’s also tied for the second-most goals of any AHL skater.

The 6-foot, 183-pound forward was eligible for the 2020 NHL Draft, but didn’t hear his name called until the 2022 event, where Montreal snapped him up with the 130th overall pick in the fifth round.

Davidson inked a two-year, entry-level contract with the club in 2024.

Even then, he was no stranger to adversity.

Davidson broke into the WHL as an undrafted free agent with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Two of his first three seasons in the league were shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, but he hit the ice with newfound fury for his final two campaigns.

Davidson erupted for 42 goals and 47 assists for 89 points in 62 games in 2021-22, finishing eighth in the league in goals in a stacked class that featured the likes of Connor Bedard, Dylan Guenther and Logan Stankoven.

He followed it up with an 82-point (38G-44A) campaign in his 20-year-old year, picking up WHL U.S. Division First-Team All-Star honours in both campaigns.

His most impactful work came in the 2023 WHL Playoffs, where he bagged 11 goals (including a game-winner in the Western Conference Championship against Kamloops and Game 3 of the WHL Championship Series versus Winnipeg) and 12 assists for 23 points in 19 games to lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champs.

Davidson closed out his WHL career with 99 goals and 111 assists for 210 points in 254 regular-season games, in addition to 52 points (24G-28A) in 47 tilts.

Montreal (10-6-2) sits second in the NHL’s Atlantic Division and looks to snap a three-game slide when it visits the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets (9-7-2) on Monday, November 17.