The Montreal Canadiens can be really happy to have acquired Jacob Fowler in the 2023 draft as he is playing great hockey, and several teams wanted him.

We know that a goalie’s development doesn’t always go as planned. Some take more time, while others surprise everyone.

In my opinion, Jacob Fowler has everything it takes to become a number-one goalie in the NHL.

During the draft, Kent Hughes had to choose between keeping his picks or trading them to acquire Alex Newhook.

In the end, he decided to send picks #31 and #37 to Colorado and wait to draft Fowler in the third round.

It was risky because at least two teams already had their eyes on him early in the second round.

The Colorado Avalanche were going to draft Jacob Fowler with the 37th overall pick acquired from the Montreal Canadiens but traded the selection to the Tampa Bay Lightning

After the draft, Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland said that if he hadn’t traded pick #37, he would have selected Jacob Fowler.

Wow!

That shows that Fowler was a player teams wanted to draft and that the Habs may have pulled off a steal with him.

With his performances this season, I think he could quickly surpass Cayden Primeau and Jakub Dobes to become the Canadiens’ goalie of the future.

In the end, the Canadiens managed to get both Jacob Fowler AND Alex Newhook, so even if forward Newhook doesn’t become the player people hoped for (at least for now), we can still say that Kent Hughes made the right move and avoided disaster.

It would have been disastrous for Hughes and the Canadiens if the Avs had selected Jacob Fowler.