Montreal Canadiens: Zach Fucale Heads To KHL

The Montreal Canadiens continue to search for their goaltender of the future. With Carey Price’s career all but officially over, the team needs someone to take over in the crease.

At one time, they thought Zach Fucale was going to be Price’s successor. He was drafted by the Canadiens in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft, and the first goaltender selected that year.

The Laval, Quebec native had an incredible 2012-13 season with the Halifax Mooseheads and an amazing Junior career overall. He backstopped the Mooseheads to a QMJHL championship and a Memorial Cup title in 2013 before the Habs selected him.

Fucale’s outstanding Junior career did not turn into an excellent run at the pro level. He would not play a game for the Canadiens, and mostly struggled with their AHL affiliate when he was there. He played three seasons in the Canadiens system, including one in the ECHL and two in the AHL.

His final season in the Canadiens organization was in 2017-18 when he posted a 3.26 GAA and a .890 SV% in 18 AHL games and a 2.83 GAA and .918 SV% in 11 ECHL games.

He did play better after leaving the Canadiens pipeline, and got into four NHL games for the Washington Capitals in 2021-22. He was exceptional in those games, posting a 1.75 GAA and a .924 SV% including a shutout in his NHL debut. He played this past season in the AHL where he had a 2.54 GAA and a .902 SV% with the Hershey Bears.

It sounds like that will be all in North America for a while for the one-time Canadiens top prospect. He signed a two-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL and will be heading to Russia to play the next two seasons.

Goaltending is a difficult position to predict from one year to the next. Fucale may not have become everything the Canadiens hoped when they drafted him but he now has eight pro seasons under his belt and will continue with the next couple seasons in a great league in Russia.

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