Habs Goaltender Prospect On Fire in NCAA

The 19-year-old Habs prospect has a 2-1 record along with 83 saves on 87 shots for a .956 save percentage and 1.35 GAA through 3 games for Cornell. Cournoyer was also named Rookie of the Week in the Eastern College Athletic Conference for the first week of the season. As a result, Cournoyer is already making a name for himself in just his freshman season in the NCAA.

Cournoyer was Cornell’s only recruit who came from the CHL thanks to the new deal between Canadian Major Junior and the NCAA that allowed them to bring in junior players, as he played for the Cape Breton Eagles last season. Cournoyer played primarily as the team’s backup netminder but showed amazing potential and statistics when he was given a chance to play. In 21 games last season with the Eagles, he posted a 13-6-1 record to go with an amazing .942 save percentage and a 1.82 GAA. This is why the Canadiens drafted him as an overage pick in the 5th Round of this past summer’s draft.

Cournoyer also played half of last year in the Maritime Junior Hockey League, where he played 21 games and had an 8-11-1 record with a .927 save percentage and 2.82 GAA. During his time in the Maritime Hockey League, he was on a very weak team, and his stats don’t tell the full story, as he was one of the best performers for the Truro Bearcats.

It’s evident that over the past year, Cournoyer has often been thrown around between both leagues, between the Eagles and Bearcats, which can sometimes be a challenge for a goaltender to overcome, but he managed to do a great job in the situation he was put in. With that being said, being able to focus on playing for just Cornell this season will help his game develop a lot as he won’t have to deal with multiple game plans throughout the season.

If Cournoyer can continue to be a dominant force for the Big Red, he has a chance to become the 2nd-best goaltending prospect in the Habs’ prospect pool behind Laval Rocket netminder Jacob Fowler. For now, he is likely the team’s 3rd or 4th best goaltending prospect behind Yevgeni Volokhin and maybe Arseni Radkov as well. If he has a better year than both of them, the rankings will surely change, but it seems like all three have a chance to one day play in the NHL, but the odds aren’t very high. However, again, with a goaltender, it is hard to truly judge their development of what they could be in their age-20 season.

It’s still early for Cournoyer, but with the confidence he will have from being named Rookie of the Week in the ECAC on Monday, it will only make things better for him and the Cornell Big Red next game. Cournoyer’s next game is expected to be on Friday at 7:00 pm ET against Brown University, where he will be hoping to continue his amazing start to his college hockey career.

Where does Alexis Cournoyer rank among goaltenders for you in the Habs prospect pool?