G Zach Fucale (2013, 36th, MTL)
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He is hell of a prospect, I watched him play a ton of times and I guarantee he is the big deal. For me: Best keeper prospect since Carey Price (was really high on Subban too but Fucale is more impressive at this point). Whoever gets him will have a gem.
TA1 Sports
@TA_Stephenson
Carey Price is my comparision as well. Fucale is smaller though. But their playing styles are remarkably similar. The things Price does well are the same as Fucales strengths. Doubt Fucale goes top 10 though, the strategy for drafting goaltenders has changed a lot over the last 10 years. I think he'll land in the late teens, early 20's.
3 Minute Minor
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- Sep 29, 2009
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I'll start off by stating that last years playoffs I bought into Zach Fucale big time and I've been a big fan of him ever since and still believe he could be a quality NHL tendy in the future. With that said, I don't think Fucale going earlier than Subban or Vasilevski last year is a smart prediction and whoever picks him should be made fun of quite a bit.
My concern is that he faces so little action that he's becoming a product of the team in front of him. He's facing under 25 shots a game on average this year and when you're not facing much action it's tough to stay sharp and his stats alone show you that he still allows some goals he shouldn't. He's still doing a great job getting wins but right now in the Q playoffs he's 12-0-0 with a 2.03GAA which looks amazing... but his Save% is only .903% which is unimpressive. That tells me that there are a number of goalies around the Q who could stand in the Halifax net and do just as good if not better.
Last year what impressed me was his ability to come up with huge saves but right now he's kind of spoiled with few scoring chances against him, yet he still lets in quite a few goals (compared to the amount of scoring chances against). Those are usually the goalies who go on to flop in the NHL unfortunately - lot's of hype because they're a part of a winning team but when they're put in a situation where they don't have elite talent well above everyone else in the league, they flop. I still think he has the skillset to be a good goalie in the future but I'm worried about how this season has effected his progress.
As for the top 10, even top 20 stuff - it makes me sad. If Fucale should go top 10 than Subban/Vasilevski should have went 1/2 last year. Just look at the work Subban has done in the OHL compared the Fucale, and before you say "Well stats aren't everything" or "Watch him play" I'll let you know that I've seen both these guys quite a bit and I'd still take Subban over Fucale, but if you actually read these stats it's more than just stats, it's the amount of work these guys face during a game and their success at keeping the puck out of the net. Anyway...:
Zach Fucale:
Rookie Season - 58GP 171GA 3249Mins 1412Saves 3.16GAA .892Save%
Second Season - 55GP 124GA 3162Mins 1232Saves 2.35GAA .909Save%
Malcolm Subban:
Rookie Season - 32GP 94GA 1785Mins 844Saves 3.16GAA .900Save%
Second Season - 39GP 94GA 2258Mins 1121Saves 2.50GAA .923Save%
Third Season - 46GP 96GA 2695Mins 1355Saves 2.14GAA .934Save%
In their draft seasons, Subban played 16 less games and only faced 111 less shots (That's 16 games with an average of 14.4 shots per game) so obviously this tells us that Subban was facing a lot more work each game and yet in a much better league (The best Q players are on Halifax lol) he was able to post a 2.50GAA & .923Save% which is way better than Fucale's 2.35GAA & .909Save%
Look at Subban this year, he faced 123 more shots than Fucale this season and he played 9 less games... That's an insane difference in workload and Subban's numbers are out of this world compared to Fucale.
This overhype on Fucale is a bit much ALL things considered. I'm a pretty big fan of his and I think he's going to be a good pickup & project for a team early in the second round but people talk about him like he's playing like a young M-A Fleury did back when he was picked #1 in '03, which is actually a great example of looking at all the numbers & understanding why he was hyped as a #1 pick, he didn't do it behind a great team, that's for sure.
lol posted and realized how huge this was... Sorry if you read it all
My concern is that he faces so little action that he's becoming a product of the team in front of him. He's facing under 25 shots a game on average this year and when you're not facing much action it's tough to stay sharp and his stats alone show you that he still allows some goals he shouldn't. He's still doing a great job getting wins but right now in the Q playoffs he's 12-0-0 with a 2.03GAA which looks amazing... but his Save% is only .903% which is unimpressive. That tells me that there are a number of goalies around the Q who could stand in the Halifax net and do just as good if not better.
Last year what impressed me was his ability to come up with huge saves but right now he's kind of spoiled with few scoring chances against him, yet he still lets in quite a few goals (compared to the amount of scoring chances against). Those are usually the goalies who go on to flop in the NHL unfortunately - lot's of hype because they're a part of a winning team but when they're put in a situation where they don't have elite talent well above everyone else in the league, they flop. I still think he has the skillset to be a good goalie in the future but I'm worried about how this season has effected his progress.
As for the top 10, even top 20 stuff - it makes me sad. If Fucale should go top 10 than Subban/Vasilevski should have went 1/2 last year. Just look at the work Subban has done in the OHL compared the Fucale, and before you say "Well stats aren't everything" or "Watch him play" I'll let you know that I've seen both these guys quite a bit and I'd still take Subban over Fucale, but if you actually read these stats it's more than just stats, it's the amount of work these guys face during a game and their success at keeping the puck out of the net. Anyway...:
Zach Fucale:
Rookie Season - 58GP 171GA 3249Mins 1412Saves 3.16GAA .892Save%
Second Season - 55GP 124GA 3162Mins 1232Saves 2.35GAA .909Save%
Malcolm Subban:
Rookie Season - 32GP 94GA 1785Mins 844Saves 3.16GAA .900Save%
Second Season - 39GP 94GA 2258Mins 1121Saves 2.50GAA .923Save%
Third Season - 46GP 96GA 2695Mins 1355Saves 2.14GAA .934Save%
In their draft seasons, Subban played 16 less games and only faced 111 less shots (That's 16 games with an average of 14.4 shots per game) so obviously this tells us that Subban was facing a lot more work each game and yet in a much better league (The best Q players are on Halifax lol) he was able to post a 2.50GAA & .923Save% which is way better than Fucale's 2.35GAA & .909Save%
Look at Subban this year, he faced 123 more shots than Fucale this season and he played 9 less games... That's an insane difference in workload and Subban's numbers are out of this world compared to Fucale.
This overhype on Fucale is a bit much ALL things considered. I'm a pretty big fan of his and I think he's going to be a good pickup & project for a team early in the second round but people talk about him like he's playing like a young M-A Fleury did back when he was picked #1 in '03, which is actually a great example of looking at all the numbers & understanding why he was hyped as a #1 pick, he didn't do it behind a great team, that's for sure.
lol posted and realized how huge this was... Sorry if you read it all
DJB
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- Jan 6, 2009
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Campbell was overrated coming out of the draft. He had a huge WJC and turned himself into a high pick because of it. He was awful in the OHL the past two seasons.
Quite a ridiculous statement, laughed, makes you want to stop reading.. When I read the rest, it's just stats, like everyone else who has a problem with Fucale. It's "workload", but its stats... Do you think he'd be something other than 1st in rankings if it was just stats,workload? No.
I'm a moose fan so there's that, and I'll always defend him when it's just stats being thrown in... But I don't see the "weakness" in his game that will prevent him from making it big... He still makes the timely save and stays solid in the 3rd... His workload decreases and has let in a few softies ... Are those handful of goals what's bringing him down?
There's no overhype for him, he's shown the best ability to translate his game to the NHL.... I've rarely seen him ranked him in the top 15, unless a team wants to pass up on a particularly deep/top heavy pool of D and forwards 2013 displays ... Is it a coincidence that few (any?) scouts have had him anything but #1 over the past year and a half?
No one ever posts here when he has a good game either lol.
3 Minute Minor
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How is it a ridiculous statement? The stats back up what I'm saying, Subban was constantly ranked #1 NA Goalie his entire draft year as well so why you brought that up is lost on me, and some had him going top 10 in mock drafts last year like some have been doing lately with Fucale... So to me it's laughable that a goalie that has showed less is being projected as an earlier pick than two promising goalie prospects from last year (Subban, Vasilevski) and this years draft is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay deeper than last years draft.
I never said there was a "weakness" in his game that will prevent him from making it big so why you said that is beyond me. (Poor use of "s also lol) If you actually read the post I said "...I still believe he could be a quality NHL tendy in the future."
He allowed more than a handful of softies, let's not lie to each other
The problem is he faces so few shots per game. It's tough to judge a goalies actual ability if he's simply standing there watching Halifax pump in a bunch of goals (347GF 176GA this season) and he really isn't relied on as much as many other goalies. Yes he still makes some big saves, we see the odd flash of it from time to time but they're not as frequent or significant for Fucale as they are for a goalie like Subban (228GF 167GA). Subban is just one example. Fucale can give up 2 softies a night and still win 5-2 easily lol I've seen it a couple times this season already and I don't think he's faced any scoring chances these playoffs that really meant anything lolHow has he proved his ability to translate his game to the NHL? All he has showed is that he can backstop a stacked team in the weakest CHL league (I'm in the area, it's true), which isn't what most NHL teams are looking for at the NHL draft when picking goalies.
You're making me seem/feel anti-Fucale which I'm not at all, I'm just stating concerns I have with him. If you want to deny the fact that he had the most goal production in front of him in the CHL and that he hasn't really had to be 'the guy', you're a devoted fan, but it doesn't change the facts.
Actually I think that Subban will be better goalie in the future, but those are still only statistics and they can be misleading sometimes. Less shots usually means that you don't stay farm in the net and it's harder to catch pucks. Also Subban played behind great defense that did'nt let opponents shoot from good places.
Stats are just stats. The mooseheads are a team who play a puck control game and they are really good at it. The fact that they control that much is the only reason why they don't allow that much shots. On the other side, they are really offensive minded, which means breakaways, 2-on-1, 3-on-2 ect.. Even if they don't allow a lot of shots, they still let to the other team a lot of good scoring chances. Thet's where Fucale plays big. I was scooting at R-N for the game 4 of the third round. If I remember correctly the game ended 9-6 for Halifax. I would still give Fucale the first star. The Huskies came out really strong but Fucale was stellar. Mooses were outshouted 18-10 after the first but were leading 2-1. In this period, Fucale's made 2 or 3 incredible saves that saved the game.
If you only look at stats, you won't see those things. Like I said in my earlier post, greatest goalie prospect since Price... that's is my opinion.
If you only look at stats, you won't see those things. Like I said in my earlier post, greatest goalie prospect since Price... that's is my opinion.
3 Minute Minor
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"Stats are just stats" is what people say when the stats don't support their opinion lol Just because I used stats to support my point, doesn't mean that you can just say "stats are just stats" and dismiss the points made...
The stats display the fact that Fucale faces less work than pretty much any other high end goalie prospect in the CHL. One example being Malcolm Subban. Another fact is that Fucale was against the best team in the CHL (best record in QMJHL history as well).
When you're behind the best team in the CHL & you're facing the smallest workload in the CHL, it makes me think people are overrating him.
Time will tell but right now people are putting ridiculous pressure/expectations on Fucale right now.
I find it hilarious that people think they can dismiss the stats by saying he makes big saves. Are you telling me Malcolm Subban isn't making big saves in Belleville? Or am I to believe that Belleville only allows weak shots from the perimeter?
George Maharis
Risk Taker
I understand what you're saying, but you can't rely on stats to tell the story..
He's not facing 30+ shots every night.. so if the team winds up leaving him out to dry, which has happened numerous times this year, allowing 2 goals on 16 shots is going to take a large toll on his numbers.
3 Minute Minor
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You don't understand what I'm saying because my point isn't the stats. The stats are simply a support for my concerns about his small workload and maybe him looking better because of the team he's on.
Your bringing up stuff that goes both ways but your only saying it for one side lol. An example of what I mean by this is your saying Halifax left Fucale hung out to dry numerous times as if it doesn't happen to other goalies on other teams, if anything it happens more often to other goalies on other teams. That's also when the GAA stat comes into play. If he's only letting in a couple goals which drags down his Save% then why is his GAA worse than Subbans still?
I'm done with this conversation, I don't want to get into repeating myself over and over. We'll see what happens come draft day then we'll see what happens when he turns pro but I still think people are overhyping him a lot, saying he's the best goalie prospect since Price & he should be drafted somewhere between 10-20 is silly to me. Especially when last year we saw 3 great goalie prospects go late 1st early 2nd with Vasilevski, Subban, Dansk
TheBeastCoast
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scoutman1
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personally Fucale to me is not overrated, to have so little shots in a game for a goalie who loves a big work load is a hard adjustment and I know him personally and he has trouble keeping his focus going 10 minuets without a shot sometimes and it is hard for anyone to keep their focus not in the game for that long then all of a suddun of a bunch of a guys in front of you and a tough shot come in....when he has a big work load he does great, sometimes it is harder to play with a small work load, your body stays cold, hard to focus, no momentum for you in the net.
Patmac40
BESTPOSTERINTHEGAME
Tripod
I hate this team
Anyone who has any doubts just need to re-watch tonight's game. Even the announcers were saying that despite having a lower shot total, the quality of chance were very high. And he got the shutout.
3 Minute Minor
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That's all fine and dandy but how often do those goalies who spend two years, for the most part, standing behind a stacked team and not facing much work, translate to good pro's? Only one I can think of in the NHL right now is maybe Cam Ward with Red Deer but the team wasn't near as stacked as Halifax & he had way better stats, and he was picked #25 - not 10-20.
Also I never said overrated, I said over hyped. He's rated as the #1 goalie in NA for this years draft and that's appropriate... but people are making him out to be a phenom when he's not, especially as a goalie, the position that has more 'busts' lately then the 1999 draft
and like I've said multiple times in here, Subban/Vasilevski/Dansk were drafted last season, I think I'd take 2 of them (Subban/Vasilevski) over Fucale every single time.We can go back and forth for hours and we still won't know who was overrated/overhyped and there's probably some nobody in the 6th round this year that will outplay all three guys we're talking about
George Maharis
Risk Taker
That's all fine and dandy but how often do those goalies who spend two years, for the most part, standing behind a stacked team and not facing much work, translate to good pro's? Only one I can think of in the NHL right now is maybe Cam Ward with Red Deer but the team wasn't near as stacked as Halifax & he had way better stats, and he was picked #25 - not 10-20.
Also I never said overrated, I said over hyped. He's rated as the #1 goalie in NA for this years draft and that's appropriate... but people are making him out to be a phenom when he's not, especially as a goalie, the position that has more 'busts' lately then the 1999 draft
We can go back and forth for hours and we still won't know who was overrated/overhyped and there's probably some nobody in the 6th round this year that will outplay all three guys we're talking about
I could see a team going for Philippe Cadorette or Etienne Marcoux around there. Neither were in CSS' Final rankings, but **** do they deserve to be. If Halifax didn't have such depth offensively, Baie-Comeau very easily could have won tonight's game and it would have been because of Cadorette.
3 Minute Minor
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Neither of them were ranked but they ranked Phil Trudeau for his size alone, even though he has no athleticism. He's 6'6" so he's ranked
That's all fine and dandy but how often do those goalies who spend two years, for the most part, standing behind a stacked team and not facing much work, translate to good pro's? Only one I can think of in the NHL right now is maybe Cam Ward with Red Deer but the team wasn't near as stacked as Halifax & he had way better stats, and he was picked #25 - not 10-20.
Also I never said overrated, I said over hyped. He's rated as the #1 goalie in NA for this years draft and that's appropriate... but people are making him out to be a phenom when he's not, especially as a goalie, the position that has more 'busts' lately then the 1999 draft
We can go back and forth for hours and we still won't know who was overrated/overhyped and there's probably some nobody in the 6th round this year that will outplay all three guys we're talking about
I just had this mental image of a aging NHL goalie blaming his lack of Vezina trophies on playing for a great junior team.
I know that's not exactly what you were saying, it just sorta popped into my head and made me laugh.
I just believe that goalies are a bit of a special case when it comes to scouting. The fact that Subban thrived under such a workload is great credit to his talent. But the fact that Fucale did not have the opportunity to do the same should not factor into any predictions for his future. There's simply no way to know how they would perform if they had switched places.
Many of Fucale's greatest strengths are the mental aspects of the position which can't really be taught, everything else can be learned over time.
I'm not saying he's the next big thing in goaltending, but if an NHL team believes he has that perfect mental make-up, and they believe their coach can mold him, I think it's easy to see why a team would consider him, even with a top-15 pick.
But in the end, it's all goaltending, so yes, in ten years time we'll probably all be talking about some guy who has already been passed over in the draft.
UsernameWasTaken
Let's Go Hawks!
it will be interesting to see who takes him. i've seen a couple of draft lists that call the Hawks taking him if he's available - and i don't see that at all...not b/c he's not talented...but b/c i don't see the Hawks taking a goalie first round at all.
George Maharis
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