Montreal Canadiens Goaltending Prospect Finishes Season With Award and Injury

The Montreal Canadiens headed into the 2023 NHL Draft with a plethora of draft picks and really focused on one specific need with a trio of those picks.

It is not common to see a team use two picks in the same draft on goaltenders bu the Canadiens went with three different goaltenders in the 2023 NHL Draft.

One of them was Quentin Miller, a local kid with the 128th overall selection in the fourth round of the draft. He had been playing for the stacked Quebec Remparts who won a Memorial Cup in 2023 but he was the clear second fiddle behind William Rousseau who was one of the top goalies in the league and handled the bulk of the starts.

This season, he was the number one guy on a team that was stripped of its talent that led them to a QMJHL Championship and Memorial Cup title a season prior. Miller did his best to keep the Remparts afloat early this season.

The Canadiens prospect put up a 12-13-1 record with a team that was expected to be at the bottom of the standings, and had a respectable 3.04 GAA and a .901 SV%. Considering most of the team's best defenders were gone, those were pretty impressive numbers.

When the QMJHL trade deadline arrived, Miller was gone as well. He was traded to the Rimouski Oceanic, who are hosting the Memorial Cup next season. They are putting Miller in a prominent role as he will be an overager next season but will be expected to shoulder the load for a team that wants to be the best in Canada.

He showed up well for them this season after his Christmas time trade. In 15 games with the Oceanic, who are in the middle of the pack this season, Miller had a 2.60 GAA and a .917 SV%. Combined, he ended the season with a 2.87 GAA and a .907 SV% in 42 games which are solid numbers in the QMJHL.

He was especially strong late in the season for the Oceanic and was awarded for his play in the month of March. He was named the QMJHL's goaltender of the month after going 3-0-0 with a 2.22 GAA and a .927 SV%, keeping the Oceanic in the race for home ice advantage in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs but they ultimately fell short.

Part of the reason they fell short was MIller got injured on March 9th and missed the final two weeks of the regular season. Unfortunately, Miller has not played since and may miss the first round of the playoffs which will be a tight series with the Cape Breton Eagles.

His great play late in the season does show Miller is a great option for the Oceanic as they prepare to host the Memorial Cup next season. Whether he gets back in time to play again this season or not, expect to hear a lot about Miller's goaltending performance next season.