Introduction
A few months after becoming a member of the Montreal Canadiens organization at the 2023 NHL Draft, Jacob Fowler began his NCAA career. He joined a Boston College team that had finished eighth in the Hockey East conference the previous year, and immediately took over its starter’s role.
He was just one of the highly touted prospects who joined BC last season, with the biggest additions being Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Gabe Perreault up front, all graduating members from the U.S. National Team Development Program. With those forward debuts, Boston’s goal total in the 24-game conference slate increased from 70 to 105. At the other end, where Fowler took the crease for the vast majority of the games, the goals against dropped from 73 to 56. The change in goal differential from -3 to +49 saw BC claim the top spot in Hockey East, and move on to the NCAA Tournament as the top seed.
Wins over Michigan Tech, Quinnipiac, and the University of Michigan, the latter via shutout, got Boston into the championship match. There Fowler could do nothing about the team’s play on offence, and despite allowing only two goals, the team settled for second place after a 2-0 shutout loss. It was just the seventh time Fowler hadn’t claimed victory, ending his freshman season with a 32-6-1 record, and a .926 save percentage.
He did get to enjoy one championship during the season, winning gold with Team USA at the World Juniors. He played three games for the team, all wins, and celebrated the title with a handful of Boston College teammates. With a November birthday, it was the only chance he had to play in the tournament, and he came away with another item to add to his trophy case.
Voting
Drafted relatively high after a very strong USHL season, replicating that performance in the NCAA was enough for panellists to raise him substantially on their lists, despite some enticing new additions and great performances from other prospects. However, he does have the largest range — 13 places — of any player in the top 15 as some want to see more from him before granting him a place among the very best players in the organization.
The same thought process is obvious in the community voting. There is no peak as we’ve seen in every breakdown so far, but a mesa of differing opinions, with the range of eighth to 13th receiving fairly equal support. He has placements as high as third and as low as 31st. It’s a question of whether a person ranks him with the elite group, or if he’s behind some of the middle-of-the-lineup options we’re running through at this part of the countdown.
Top 25 Under 25 History
It was already quite a high debut for a goaltender last year as Fowler started at 23rd, and it’s a big leap in his second year, especially considering the talent in the organization in 2024.
History of #11
| Year | #11 |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Justin Barron |
| 2022 | Cayden Primeau |
| 2021 | Jayden Struble |
| 2020 | Cale Fleury |
| 2019 | Josh Brook |
| 2018 | Jacob de la Rose |
| 2017 | Joni Ikonen |
| 2016 | Phillip Danault |
| 2015 | Michaël Bournival |
| 2014 | Jiri Sekac |
| 2013 | Tim Bozon |
| 2012 | Morgan Ellis |
| 2011 | Alexander Avtsin |
| 2010 | Jarred Tinordi |
Strengths
The main quality that Fowler possesses is an unshakable confidence. Critically, that holds up even when he allows a goal, as he simply forgets about it and gets back to business.
It was an inability to get past those mistakes that held some of the other promising goalies back we’ve seen during the time of this project. Zach Fucale seemed to allow goals in bunches, and never progressed higher than 19th despite being a second-round selection. Cayden Primeau had fallen out of the Top 25 entirely in his final year of eligibility last summer after being as high as sixth at one point because it didn’t seem like he was going to see the progression in that area his game needed to make the NHL. It could be thanks to Primeau seemingly overcoming that obstacle last season that there’s so much faith in a goaltending prospect once again; if goalie coach Eric Raymond (with a significant helping hand from Jake Allen) can get Primeau over that giant hurdle, there shouldn’t be too much trouble keeping Fowler in the right state of mind.
Related to his mental fortitude is a persistent focus on tracking the puck during the play. There are no lapses in concentration, staying constantly aware of what is happening around him. He’ll fight to see where the puck is in the zone and be ready for the shot when it comes his way.
Quick reflexes and good hands allow him to stop even the most dangerous shots. He doesn’t give up on plays and came up with some rather spectacular saves in his days with the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL. Those didn’t feature nearly as often in his first season at Boston College because he adopted a new approach. Rather than scrambling around to make desperation saves, he played deeper in his crease and relied more on positioning than just determination to keep pucks out.
Weaknesses
The reason for that change in style is a proactive measure to combat one of Fowler’s few weaknesses: his lack of mobility. He isn’t Samuel Montembeault with a bottom half that actually had to be reined in to make him a better goalie, but a player who needs to limit the distance he has to travel while playing the position. It’s surely an area Raymond and BC associate coach Mike Ayers will continue to work on with Fowler given that it is one of his few limitations, but playing a more sound positional game won’t harm his development in any way.
His fitness was a concern in his draft year, and one reason why he was still available in the third round. He has since received advice from BC’s nutritionist to adjust his diet, slimmed down a bit, and has a better understanding of how and when to properly fuel his body to play his position.
If he does reach the NHL, he’s going to face not only better shooters who can pick their spots, but better passers who can zip the puck from one side of the ice to the other. Those plays are going to test both his edge-work and this new deep style that leaves more room in the upper corners. He is a smaller goaltender at 6’1″, so he won’t be able to just have the puck hit him while he’s not fully in the play like you tend to see for 6’6″ or 6’7″ goaltenders.
Projection
First off, the question is how much more experience Fowler needs at the collegiate level before turning pro. It was quite a surprise when Primeau cut his time short at two years with Northeastern, but it wouldn’t be if Fowler decides that another season is enough for him. The Canadiens are probably quite happy with their current goaltending situation, and Montembeault is just set to begin the first year of his new three-year deal, so they won’t want to rush the move. Kent Hughes has been quite public about ultimately leaving those decisions to the players. The team also has Jakub Dobes (who ranks 24th in the countdown) in the AHL who is coming off a great end to his season, and they will want to see what he could become while having the crease largely to himself.
Whether it’s in a year’s time or as many as three, Fowler will eventually get his contract with the team that drafted him. The Canadiens will have Ivan Demidov on the roster at that point, a more experienced defence corps, and real Stanley Cup aspirations. It’s quite rare for goalies so young — even 23 as he would be with a full four-year NCAA career — to make NHL rosters, and there are plenty of cases of things going poorly when teams try to bring them in too soon. His mental strength may allow him to take that step sooner than most, but it would be best for everyone if he was slowly eased into the fold.
The Canadiens’ roster is being built up at every position and won’t rely on a goaltender like those Carey Price had the misfortune of playing on. They shouldn’t need an elite goaltender to steal wins, just one to make sure there are fewer goals surrendered than scored at the end of the night. A calming presence in the crease who makes all the saves he should and some of the ones he shouldn’t is what the team will need going forward. You could argue that the team may not even require a goalie with as much talent as Fowler possesses to become a true contender, but if he does reach his potential and becomes an NHL starter, goaltending shouldn’t be the area responsible for cutting a post-season run short.
Ken Brumberger formerly of InGoal Magazine, and EOTP Alumni, joins the podcast to talk about Jacob Fowler:
1:30 – Jacob Fowler this past season
8:15 – Adopting to an Olympic sized rink, the scientific way.
11:30 – Goalie IQ?
13:45 – Is number 11 a fair ranking?
15:00 – Weaknesses?
20:55 – Commercial Break
21:00 – One or Two years before he leaves BC?
26:00 – Expectations for the upcoming season?
31:00 – The gap opening up between Fowler and Dobes, was it expected?
35:45 – The final banter.
