Zach Fucale lives out his dream

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Zach Fucale has become a great argument in favor of sticking with something you love, even when times are difficult. Originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 2013, his journey to the NHL was a long one. He spent large stints of it in the ECHL and as recently as 2019-20, he was primarily an ECHL goaltender.

After being drafted, Montreal did sign him to a three-year entry level contract, but after that deal was done the Canadiens decided against making him a qualifying offer, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent. He signed a one-year deal with Vegas in 2018, but again he didn’t get a qualifying offer after that contract was done. Unable to get another two-way deal, he instead signed with AHL Syracuse in July 2019 until they released him in February 2020.

Things started to turn around for him when he signed a two-way deal with Washington in 2020 and then they singed him to a two-year extension in March 2021. He wasn’t part of the team’s plans for the NHL roster, but he was part of their depth and with Vitek Vanecek unavailable due to injury, Fucale got his first shot to play in the NHL last night at the age of 26. What followed was a storybook shutout victory to kick off his NHL career.

“I can’t dream it better to be honest,” Fucale told the press. “This is a really great moment and that’s a great win. It’s been a helluva journey. But now one’s out of the way, we move on and we go to the next game.” He might find himself back in the AHL soon, but he’s shown he can play at this level and with that being accomplished, it wouldn’t be surprising if he gets another opportunity.

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