As Marco D’Amico from RG.org and Jimmy Murphy reported last night, Jacob Fowler has signed an ELC contract with the Montreal Canadiens, which will start for the 2025-26 season, and an amateur tryout contract, which will allow him to join the Laval Rocket for the remainder of the season.

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As mentioned this week, Kent Hughes is thinking long-term by sending Fowler with the Rocket to finish the season. The goaltender gets some more playing time, which will ultimately be suitable for his development, and the team gets an extra year before they have to think about how much to sign him for in his second contract.

Furthermore, the contract includes the maximum signing bonus but not the maximum performance bonus, which is also a plus.

The young netminder hasn’t spoken with the media yet and will only be available on Wednesday, April 9, in Laval. The Rocket has already taken to social media to announce that its new goaltender will be sporting jersey number one.

While the Canadiens have a day off today, the new member of the organization still jumped on the ice and took some shots from Joshua Roy. The Rocket is still out west and will be taking on the Abbotsford Canucks on Friday and Saturday night.

Hughes can pat himself on the back on this one. Some believed he should have let Fowler burn a year of his ELC, but that wouldn’t have been what was best for the organization, and he managed to convince the blue-chip prospect to do what was best for the club just like he did when he signed contracts with Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Jake Evans.

With every contract signed, the Hughes hire looks better and better. The upcoming Summer should be busy, and it will be interesting to see what the GM decides to do on the trade market and in free agency. There’s never a dull moment in Habsland.

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