HabsWorld.net --
While it took a little longer than expected, one of Montreal’s top prospects is now under contract. The Habs announced on Friday that they’ve signed goaltender Jacob Fowler to a three-year, entry-level deal.
In recent years, the Canadiens have had to burn a year of a contract right away for several of their college signings, most recently Lane Hutson last season. That isn’t the case here as the deal will begin in 2025-26 while Fowler will join Laval on a one-way contract for the rest of the season. While most college players sign tryout deals (such as Will Dineen and Mark Espada recently), Fowler getting a full contract will give him a salary for the remainder of the season.
PuckPedia reports that the NHL portion of the contract breaks down as follows:
2025-26: $775K NHL salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played bonus ($50K at 5 GP, $30K at 10 GP), $82.5K AHL salary
2026-27: $855K NHL salary, $95K signing bonus, $500K ’A’ performance bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
2027-28: $855K NHL salary, $95K signing bonus, $500K ’A’ performance bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
That means that Fowler will carry a cap hit of $923,333 while the deal has an AAV of $1.15 million.
Montreal drafted the 20-year-old in the third round back in 2023, going 69th overall. Early that season, Fowler was in the mix to be the top goalie off the board but slid as the year went on and ultimately was the sixth netminder taken after five went in the second round.
After a dominant draft year with Youngstown of the USHL, Fowler kicked off his college career last season at Boston College. He immediately became their starter and had quite the freshman year, putting up a 32-6-1 record with a 2.14 GAA and a .926 SV%. That earned him a spot on the Hockey East All-Rookie team while he also picked up a gold medal at the World Juniors for Team USA, splitting time with Trey Augustine.
Impressively, Fowler was even better this season. While his win-loss record dipped a bit (25-7-2), he dropped his GAA to 1.63 and raised his SV% to .940, ranking him in the top three in Division I in both categories. Between that and Boston College’s two top forwards (Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault) already turning pro, it would have been surprising to see Fowler return for his junior year.
It will be interesting to see how – or even if – Fowler is used down the stretch. For starters, he likely won’t join up with the team for a few more days as Laval is in Abbotsford for a pair of games before continuing their road trip on the East Coast next week; that’s likely when Fowler will report.
But with the playoffs fast approaching and Cayden Primeau staking claim to the number one role with a stellar performance since being sent down, it’s hard to envision Fowler seeing much action in the postseason. There’s also Jakub Dobes to consider who is eligible to be sent back down when Montreal’s season comes to an end although he could be an option to play for Czechia at the Worlds instead.
Regardless, beyond a late-season game or two, Fowler probably won’t get much time to play for the Rocket this year. But next season when he has his first full professional campaign, he should have a prominent role for Laval right away.
