The goaltending position is in somewhat of a state of flux for the Habs right now as they search for a Carey Price replacement. With that in mind, here are ten thoughts on Montreal’s ten goaltenders heading into the upcoming season.
For the purpose of this exercise (and to keep the number at an even ten), I’m not going to cover Price. We know he’ll be on LTIR again if the Canadiens need the cap space and there isn’t much to discuss after that. Players are listed alphabetically in each section.
Montreal
1) Samuel Montembeault: If there were ever a time for a breakout year, this would be it. Montembeault has done well so far, shifting the narrative from being a short-term fill-in for Price to a serviceable depth piece to someone who looks like he could be part of the plans for at least a little while. But even with that, I don’t think there are many who feel that he’s the long-term solution in goal. Montembeault has shown slow but steady improvement but if he wants to cement himself as part of the long-term picture (and possibly get himself in the mix for international play), this is the time to take that step forward.
2) Cayden Primeau: There’s a fair bit at stake for him this season as well. For the first time, he is going into the season as the undisputed backup. The issue with him so far has been inconsistency and while that’s something a lot of young goalies go through, he’s 25 years old and going into his sixth professional season. The ‘he’s young’ card doesn’t really fly anymore. It’s a contract year for Primeau so he’ll be looking to show he’s worth keeping around and he’ll want to demonstrate that he could be part of the plans for a few more years.
Laval
3) Jakub Dobes: Now that he has a full professional campaign under his belt, can he avoid the ugly start like he had a year ago? While the Rocket will have a very young roster again, expectations should be a bit higher with a more talented group. It’s a contract year for Dobes as well and while he’s probably not at the point where he can play his way into consideration for the backup job in 2025-26, he needs to at least show enough progress to demonstrate that he could still be an NHL piece down the road. I think he has it in him to do that.
4) Connor Hughes: While he’s a little old (28) to be considered a rookie, this is indeed his rookie season at the North American pro level. I feel that he’s one of the biggest wild cards Laval has this season. We saw last year what happened when the Rocket didn’t have a capable backup behind Dobes and they waited too long to address that. Instead of a proven veteran, they tried to find a veteran with some upside in Hughes, an older but relatively untested goalie. One thing to keep an eye on will be his workload as other than the 2022-23 campaign, Hughes hasn’t really played a high number of games in most seasons. If Dobes struggles or gets injured, can he handle a bunch of starts in a row?
NCAA
5) Emmett Croteau: If he can’t break through this season, I’m not sure he’ll be able to. Croteau struggled last season in a limited role at Clarkson, eventually leading to him transferring to Dartmouth for a shot at more playing time. His competition is someone who played four games last season and one who played once; neither has been drafted. Croteau doesn’t have to light it up statistically necessarily but he needs to establish himself as the legitimate starter at a minimum in 2024-25.
6) Jacob Fowler: What can he do for an encore? After putting up a stellar freshman year and getting pretty much every Hockey East honour he could, expectations are going to be very high for Fowler, considered by many as Montreal’s goalie of the future. More specifically, will he demonstrate that he will be worth signing early? Not a lot of college goalies sign after two years (Primeau was one of the exceptions) but if he dominates again, will Montreal’s management decide to give Fowler a new test earlier than expected?
Other
7) Quentin Miller: Pre-injury, I thought he was more of a long shot to be signed to his entry-level deal by June 1st but a shoulder injury that will cost him six months might very well be the nail in the coffin for that goal. Now, the question might be did he show enough last year that the Habs think he’s worthy of an AHL deal to keep him in the fold? And will that be the best course of action for Miller over going back for an overage year in the QMJHL? Either way, he’s probably coming off Montreal’s reserve list in June.
8) Mikus Vecvanags: First, I think it was interesting that he eschewed a spot in the QMJHL to go to the BCHL and keep his NCAA options open. Long-term, that might be better for the organization as it will extend his signing timeline by a year and after playing at a relatively low level, the BCHL being a little weaker than major junior might be easier for him. Vecvanags is another ‘draft and forget’ prospect where it probably makes sense to check in on him in a few years rather than get too hung up on the year-to-year performance.
9) Yevgeni Volokhin: He’s shown that he can dominate at Russia’s junior level which is great. Now, the ideal outcome for him this season is to take a full-time step forward to the VHL. That might not be realistic, however, as he’s behind a veteran on his team at that level and we all know prospects don’t always get the prime ice time in Russia’s pro leagues. So maybe the more realistic outcome is that Volokhin gets his feet wet in the VHL and does well at that level but is shuffled down to the MHL at times to get somewhat of a steady workload. He has definitely become one of Montreal’s more intriguing prospects.
10) Joe Vrbetic: Seriously, this has to be the first time in NHL history that a team has three drafted goalies whose last name starts with a V. That won’t be the case for long, however, as the Habs will be back down to two once Vrbetic’s rights expire next summer. After spending the last two years with Trois-Rivieres and the fact he doesn’t have a place to play yet this season, it’s telling and a bit surprising that he wasn’t on Montreal’s training camp roster. That says a lot about their plans for him or the lack thereof.