Canadiens: The Man Behind The Big Pick

It’s fair to say that Jacob Fowler has taken the NHL by storm since being called up from the Laval Rocket. The rookie netminder has gone 6-1-0 since then, including two shutouts and six straight wins. He became just the third Montreal Canadiens goaltender to record at least six consecutive wins before turning 22, after Rogie Vachon and Patrick Roy.

Fowler has also become a road warrior; in three road games, he ranks third in the league in both goals-against average (0.67) and save percentage (.980). Only Colten Ellis, who has played one game, and Jake Oettinger, who has played three games, have better numbers. As things stand, he has well and truly grabbed the number-one role with the Canadiens, and make no mistake: the only reason Jakub Fowler is getting the start on Thursday is that he’s been sitting for over a week. When the Sainte-Flanelle takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Mecca of hockey on Saturday night, Fowler will be back between the posts.

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Many have earmarked him as the Canadiens’ goaltender of the future, but few expected him to climb that high, that fast. Dobes himself may be wondering how he went from leading the team to the Eastern Conference Final last season to getting a front-row seat so quickly, but it’s a results-based business, and the Americans’ recent work speaks for itself.

One man may not be all that surprised, though. After Fowler’s stellar shutout performance against the St. Louis Blues, an excerpt from the team’s 2023 draft documentary started circulating on social media, featuring then-amateur scout Billy Ryan explaining to the Canadiens’ extended brain trust why they need to select Fowler in no uncertain terms.

It’s a good thing the Habs hired Ryan in August 2022 to run their amateur scouting department in the USA, but the Canadiens didn't update their website to include him until April 12, 2023 and back then he was simply listed as a scout, but that appears to have been an oversight which was fixed in mid-July 2023. It means that he hadn’t even been in the role for a full year when he defended his stance on Fowler in front of a room full of people.

Fast forward three years, and the Canadiens must be oh so very glad they not only hired Ryan, a former amateur scout with the Florida Panthers for seven seasons, but also listened to him back then. Five netminders were picked before Fowler in 2023: Adam Gajan, Michael Hrabal, Trey Augustine, Carson Bjarnason and Damian Clara. Clara and Bjarnason are in the AHL; Gajan is in the ECHL; Augustine and Hrabal are in their first full AHL season. Fowler is ahead of the curve and slowly but surely making his way into early Calder Trophy discussions.

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