Carolina Hurricanes Prospects: Callum Booth Looks to Follow Up on Breakout Season in Quebec
By Brett Finger
Between now and the start of the preseason, Cardiac Cane will preview every Carolina Hurricanes prospect as they enter the 2015-2016 season and what we expect from them in the coming year and beyond.
Player: Callum Booth
Position: Goalie
Date of Birth: May 21, 1997 (18)
Birthplace: Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
Height/Weight: 6’3″/198 lbs.
2015-2016 Team: Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
Scouting Report:
"“Callum is very composed and confident. He has excellent positional play and net coverage and is strong in all areas. He has great instincts and reads and reacts to plays very well.” (Al Jensen, NHL Central Scouting)"
A goalie that excels in many areas, Callum Booth looks to take over with the Quebec Remparts in his third year of QMJHL play.
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The Carolina Hurricanes drafted Booth in the 4th round (93rd overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft in June, adding him to a growing list of goalie prospects in the organization.
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Early on in his QMJHL career, Booth has already made a big impact on an impressive Quebec team.
As a rookie in 2013-2014, Booth appeared in 25 games, posting a 2.68 goals against average and .914 save percentage with a record of 11-5-3. He served as a backup behind then-starter Francois Brassard.
In the 2014-2015 season, the Remparts had a very crowded goal crease with five different player manning the net at points in the season, but through that, Callum Booth came out as their top backstop statistically.
Booth appeared in 41 games, going 23-13-2 as he led his Remparts to a 2nd place finish in their division. He posted a goals against average of 3.05 (6th in the league) and a .900 save percentage (tied-6th in the league).
The Remparts acquired Zachary Fucale in a mid-season trade, which actually faired well for young Callum Booth. Booth and Fucale split time last season, but it was Booth that ultimately took more games away from Fucale, which was a surprise to almost everyone considering that Fucale was, and still is, considered to be one of the NHL’s top goalie prospects.
Fucale did go on to start most of their post-season games due to his experience, which is why Booth only saw one game during the playoffs.
Booth has proven himself to be a very good net minder in the QMJHL, throwing himself on to the map as a legitimate goalie prospect in the process.
For the next two seasons, it will likely be the Callum Booth show in Quebec after showing the entire league that he is for real, stealing time from Zachary Fucale a season ago.
Booth offers a lot in net. He has a big fame at 6’3″, 198 pounds, he is very fundamentally and positionally solid, and he does have quick reaction times.
On the other side of that, he isn’t overly athletic, and he does have some consistency issues. That being said, the positives heavily outweigh the negatives with this young player, hence why he was the second ranked North American goalie in the 2015 draft class.
In tournament play, Booth has also impressed. He played in 6 games Quebec in 2014 Wold Under-17 Hockey Challenge, and he allowed just 1 goal in 1 start for Canada in the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.
This season, Booth will return to the Quebec Remparts as the starer after a very surprising season in 2014-2015.
It’s hard to project just where he will end up down the road. He has been pretty good when he has played, but he has never really been the starting guy for a long period of time at the QMJHL level.
A breakout season in Quebec could boost him up the prospect rankings into a spot just under top-goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.
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He currently projects as a potential journeyman starter in the NHL, but that will likely either jump up or shoot down in the next two seasons.