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File on Jacob Fowler: Beware of comparisons with Jakub Dobes and Cayden Primeau
Kevin Vallée
File on Jacob Fowler: Beware of comparisons with Jakub Dobes and Cayden Primeau
Credit: Jacob Fowler is the subject of the hour, in Montreal. To take the pulse and context of the situation, which seems to be a match of failure/a contractual opinion divergence between the Fowler clan and the Canadiens clan, follow this link. Reactions are already numerous, and one of them came from Marc Dumont, who wanted […]
Jacob Fowler is the subject of the hour, in Montreal. To take the pulse and context of the situation, which seems to be a match of failure/a contractual opinion divergence between the Fowler clan and the Canadiens clan, follow this link.

Reactions are already numerous, and one of them came from Marc Dumont, who wanted to remind that the last two times the Canadiens rushed into the professional ranks “haven’t exactly broken everything in their path”, obviously talking about Cayden Primeau and Jakub Dobes.

I couldn’t help but respectfully disagree with this comment, which I would describe as “a perhaps overly simplistic shortcut “

First, before anything else: let’s compare apples with apples.

Jacob Fowler is a goalkeeper selected in the early third round, 69th overall.

Jakub Dobes was a fifth-round pick, 136th overall, and Cayden Primeau was selected in the middle of the seventh round. Dobes and Primeau were “hyped” through the Montreal media machine, thanks to their stats, but they never had the status of Fowler, who is truly considered one of the best prospects in the league in front of the net.

As of today, Jacob Fowler is 20 years old and was drafted less than two years ago. When he signed his NHL entry contract, Dobes was almost 22 years old and had been drafted three years earlier – and btw, he didn’t break anything in the NCAA at 21 years old. Primeau, on the other hand, is a better example, as he made the jump to the pros at 20 years old.

In fact, if there’s a conclusion to be drawn from these two situations, it’s not that you shouldn’t rush a goalkeeper to the pros, it’s that you might not want to rush a goalkeeper to the NHL.

Primeau, a seventh-round pick, had no business being pitched in the NHL at 20 years old, even if he had an efficiency rate of 0.930 in two years at Northeastern. Dobes, on the other hand, has no business being the Canadiens’ second goalkeeper at 23 years old, in the middle of a playoff run.

Marc Dumont is right when he says there’s little risk in a patient approach, while a quick approach can lead to disaster.

But the fact that the 199th pick in the 2017 draft is the Rocket’s number one goalkeeper at 25 years old is not a disaster; it’s normal.

Now, as for Jacob Fowler, it’s legitimate to want him to be patient before aiming for the NHL. But would it be rushing if he were to make the jump to the pros with the Laval Rocket? Personally, I doubt it.


Overtime

– Paul Maurice throws flowers at Pascal Vincent.

– Some info here:

– Lane Hutson has a new sponsor.

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