The Montreal Canadiens did not need to draft and develop goaltenders for the past decade. Everyone knew the crease belonged to Carey Price, and whichever veteran backup was brought in that season could handle the rest of the games.
Even when they drafted Zach Fucale in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft, it seemed unlikely he would ever be able to usurp Price and steal the number one job. Aside from Fucale, goaltending was not a focus at the draft for a very long time.
So, when the Canadiens lost Price to injury before his contract was up, they had nothing in the system to replace him. Cayden Primeau was coming along after being a seventh round pick but was not NHL ready. Jake Allen was the veteran backup and continued in that role but they had to grab Sam Montembeault off waivers to fill the gap.
Jakub Dobes and Frederik Dichow were recent fifth round draft picks, but neither projected to be star NHL goalies. Dichow has since been released as the team did not sign him, and Dobes joined the Laval Rocket this season after two solid college seasons at Ohio State.
Things have not been going great for Dobes since turning pro, as the 22 year old has a 4.50 GAA and a .862 SV% in nine games so far. He has had a couple of strong games recently, so you hope he has turned a corner.
Even looking beyond Dobes, further into the system, there are a trio of 2023 draft picks who are playing extremely well this season. Picking three goaltenders in the same draft seemed like a bit of an odd strategy, but with one playing in the Canadian Hockey League, one playing college hockey and another developing in Russia they will take drastically different paths toward the NHL.
Let’s check in on each of the three goaltenders drafted by the Canadiens in the 2023 NHL Draft.