The St. Johns IceCaps—Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate—announced that they’ve reassigned goalie Zach Fucale to the ECHL’s Brampton Beast. Fucale is only 3 years removed from being the top goalie drafted (36th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
The demotion is a huge blow for the goaltending prospect and the Canadiens organization. In two games this season, Fucale posted a 3.56GAA and a .887 SV%. Last season he fared a little better, posting a 3.13 GAA and a .903 SV% in the AHL and was even called up to warm the bench while Carey Price recovered from injury.
It wasn’t long ago that Fucale was highly touted by scouts. In 2014-15 he led Team Canada to a gold medal in the World Junior Championships with an unreal 1.20 GAA and .949 SV%. Fucale suffered since then, and could not perform at the same high level he showcased in Junior. The Canadian goalie will be replaced by Yann Danis and Charlie Lindgren, but neither provide much security if Carey Price goes down with another injury.
Fucale has regressed each year since he was drafted though he was playing rather well last year before the Habs raided the IceCaps roster to cover injuries. This is by no means a death sentence to his career but the odds of him ever reaching his potential are slim.
With the ECHL more aligned with their NHL affiliates than ever before, a demotion isn’t as dire as it once was. Scott Darling, Garret Sparks, and Mike Condon have all played stints in the ECHL.
Lindgren is actually quite good, Fucale hasn’t been the top goalie prospect since Condon leapfrogged him last year. Condon did great until his confidence was shot by being put into a starting role far too early.
Lindgren so far has performed very well, not sure where this reporting is coming from that Fucale is the top prospect. He hasn’t been for well over a year.
Nobody said he was the top prospect. Rather, he was the first goalie picked in his draft year. Though to be fair the 2013 NHL Draft has not produced any goalies of note other than Juuse Saros and Kristers Gudlevskis (and even those are a stretch).
I had no clue what the Habs saw in him when I saw him play at the WJ’s and laughed at people who thought he would be ready for the NHL within a year because his numbers looked gaudy; his rebound control was terrible, his positioning was mediocre, and he’d often lose his composure and overreact during scrambles. Not at all surprised he hasn’t amounted to much.