The Montreal Canadiens have deployed an influx of goaltenders since franchise legend Carey Price stepped away from the game following an attempted comeback after their 2020-21 Stanley Cup Final heartbreak. The team had five goalies start at least one game in 2021-22 — Price, Jake Allen, Samuel Montembeault, Cayden Primeau, Andrew Hammond, and Michael McNiven. With Price now unofficially retired, only Montembeault and Primeau remain on the roster.
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In addition to the young duo, the Canadiens have several notable goaltending prospects on their radar — Jakub Dobes of the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Laval Rocket and the emerging Jacob Fowler of Boston College. It’s unlikely any of these players will reach the lofty standard set by the phenomenal play of Price, but complemented with one of the most promising young defensive groups and prospect pools in the NHL, surely one will cement himself as the Canadiens exit their rebuild and aim to compete.
Cayden Primeau (#30, Montreal Canadiens)
Cayden Primeau has been up and down from the Laval Rocket regularly since as early as 2019-20. The 24-year-old only has 38 NHL games to his name and sports an ugly 3.48 goals-against average (GAA) and .890 save percentage (SV%). The 2019 Mike Richter Award (NCAA top goalie) winner’s numbers in the AHL have been better, though not spectacular, rocking a .909 SV% in 123 games. However, with Dobes and free agent signee Kasimir Kaskisuo arriving in Laval this season, Primeau has seen a career-high 17 games of action with the big club. Despite posting poor numbers in previous seasons (albeit on weak Canadiens teams), he sports a cool 2.85 GAA and .910 SV%.
His most recent start was a 36-save performance against the Seattle Kraken, which the Habs won decisively 5-1. Two weeks before, in what was arguably his strongest performance to date, he earned his second shutout of the season, stopping all 41 shots from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has a 2-1-0 record since the team traded Allen to the New Jersey Devils, but he is already 24 years old and his 17 starts this season are a career-best, so it appears that the Michigan native is trending towards the role of quality backup.
Jakub Dobes (#71, Laval Rocket)
Taking a similar development path to Primeau, Jakub Dobes has followed two stellar seasons at Ohio State University of the NCAA with a high-volume rookie campaign in the AHL. In a league-leading 45 games played with the Rocket, he has a 21-15-6 record, a 2.98 GAA, and a .903 SV%. A Mike Richter Award finalist himself, expectations were high for his debut season in North America.
Born in Ostrava, Czech Republic, he arrived in North America in 2018-19 with the Topeka Pilots of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). Many goaltenders (such as Primeau) face longer acclimation periods to the pros, so the 22-year-old Dobes will likely spend another season or two getting accustomed.
There remains much more uncertainty surrounding him than Primeau or Montembeault simply due to his inexperience. But given his track record in the NCAA and after posting respectable numbers despite being thrown into a starting role as a rookie, fans should have an optimistic outlook. He has the potential to become a quality starter – it’s just a matter of whether he can live up to it.
Jacob Fowler (#1, Boston College)
Jacob Fowler, a third-round pick in 2023, has seen his progression skyrocket since being drafted. After posting solid numbers in the form of a 2.28 GAA and .921 SV% in the United States Hockey League (USHL), the Melbourne, Florida native has seamlessly transitioned to the NCAA with Boston College. His 2.19 GAA (11th in the league) and .925 SV% (sixth) are both improvements over his 2022-23 statistics, despite playing in a more competitive league.
Perhaps more impressively, the 19-year-old possesses a shining 29-5-1 record with two shutouts (his win total paces the NCAA). A top-three finalist for the 2024 Mike Richter Award (seemingly a common trend among Canadiens goaltending prospects), he will almost certainly return to Boston College for his sophomore season and beyond.
The expectations he has set as a freshman will surely have Canadiens fans excited. He will likely represent and earn the chance to start for the United States at the 2025 World Junior Championships after playing with fellow Habs prospect Lane Hutson and backing up Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine in 2024. Should Fowler continue to progress at this rate, he will be given every opportunity to prove himself as an NHL starter. But for now, he is still several years away from professional hockey, and fans will have to be patient while they await another potential solution in the crease hailing from the NCAA.
Samuel Montembeault (#35, Montreal Canadiens)
Samuel Montembeault has cemented himself as the starting goaltender for the Canadiens. With the departure of Allen and Primeau continuing to see limited action, the team’s coaching staff has made it abundantly clear — the starting role is now Montembeault’s to lose. However, he will need to continue to prove he is capable of being a starting goaltender at the NHL level, as prospects such as Dobes and Fowler will look to compete for the position in the future.
Until then, the team seems comfortable giving the World Championship gold medallist the bulk of the workload. While his 3.06 GAA and .905 SV% are nothing spectacular and relatively on par with the league average, the Canadiens are again a bottom-feeding club with an extremely young defensive group — meaning his unimpressive numbers shouldn’t be entirely attributed to him.
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Recently signed to a reasonable three-year contract extension, the 27-year-old Quebec native’s salary implicates a shorter leash as the starting goaltender, especially with Primeau now serving as the primary backup and playing his best games in the NHL as of late. Having Primeau as insurance provides a safety blanket for the team should Montembeault struggle, and they could find themselves in a scenario where the two goaltenders are deployed as a tandem.
The timeline of his contract extension suggests the team will likely reassess their goaltending situation should he fail to live up to expectations. For now, however, it appears as though Montembeault will be Montreal’s starter for the short-term future, at minimum, or at least until Fowler or Dobes can prove they are ready to make the jump to the NHL.