Goaltender: Only one Quebecer remains in the NHL

Michaël Petit
Goaltender: Only one Quebecer remains in the NHL
Credit: YT

I'm not telling you anything new when I say that Quebec goalies aren't what they used to be.

Marc-André Fleury has now retired and joined the ranks of other great Quebec goalies like Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo.

At least the Montreal Canadiens can count on a Quebec native in net for their team… even if he hasn't played since March 6.

Last year, six Quebec goalies played at least one game in the NHL: Montembeault, Marc-André Fleury, Devon Levi, Olivier Rodrigue, Louis Domingue, and Yaniv Perets.

Fleury has retired, while Levi, Rodrigue, Domingue, and Perets haven't played this season, and no other goalie from Quebec has had the chance to play in the NHL. This makes Montembeault the only Quebec goalie to have played in the big league during the 2025-26 season.

Kevin Dubé of TVA Sports even wrote an article about it.

We can therefore conclude that something is amiss in Quebec when it comes to goaltender development.

We know that the development of good players in Quebec has been pretty weak for some time now, but it's even worse when it comes to goalies.

Currently, there aren't many young Quebec goalies drafted by an NHL club. Gabriel D'Aigle (who hasn't been able to perform in the QMJHL) is one, and then there's Devon Levi, who played the entire season in the AHL. Lucas Beckman, however, might surprise a few people, having excelled for the Chicoutimi Saguenéens since his trade. Levi is probably the most promising of all these names.

William Lacelle is a solid prospect for the upcoming draft, having performed well this season with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. It would be surprising if he were selected in the first two rounds, but you never know with goalies. Elite Prospects ranked him 75th in their mock draft.

Another name particularly catches my eye: Louis-Antoine Denault, who is 19 years old and still hasn't been drafted. What fascinates me about him is that he stands 6 feet 8 inches tall (!!!). His height is and will definitely be a factor in his favor.

Again, there aren't many highly promising prospects among Quebec goalies, and we have to question the development of young Quebec players.

This has been a topic of discussion for a long time, but there REALLY needs to be changes, because it's not necessarily because young Quebec goalies are bad.

It will always be difficult to make it to the NHL level, especially for a goaltender, since there are generally only two goaltenders per team. There won't always be Marc-André Fleury, Roberto Luongo, and Martin Brodeur.

However, I can't believe there are no promising Quebec goalies right now just because they're simply not as good as they used to be.

All the young goalies mentioned above (except Devon Levi and Yaniv Perets) played in the QMJHL. Clearly, there must be something wrong with the development of Quebec goalies playing in Quebec's junior leagues.

That's partly why we're seeing more and more young Quebec players head to the NCAA in the United States.

It's certainly fun to play in Quebec when you're from Quebec, but you have to think about your development, and the NCAA is definitely one of the best options for developing effectively.

Should there be major changes to the development of Quebec goalies, or should we simply wait for a better pool of prospects in Quebec? I think the answer is pretty simple.


In a nutshell

– Don't miss it.

– Interesting.

– To be continued.

– Lehkonen is and always will be very valuable in the playoffs.

– The Avalanche were simply too strong for the Kings… Kopitar certainly had an excellent run in the NHL.

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