I've seen Montoya play live a few times (since I attended a D1 CCHA school) and wrote the following regarding Montoya after seeing him play.
"Alvaro Montoya. I know a lot of you were hoping the Kings would select him last year if it came down to him or Marek Schwarz. Not sure if he was just having a bad night or what, but looking past his record of 13-4-1, his Sv% is a subpar .896 and his GAA is at 2.55. And this Michigan club is the best defensive team in the CCHA. Montoya's weakest point is his puckhandling. He mishandled the puck quite a few times, which lead to some weak goals. On one of the goals, a simple dump in was misread by Montoya, but it is tough to fault him for that bad goal since it took a crazy bounce and went right into the net as Montoya was coming out expecting to play the puck.
Montoya also had difficulty with rebounds and at some times couldn't find the puck around scrums and bodies in front of the net. I think the Rangers took a big risk selecting him 6th overall, but the draft is a big gamble anyway. From what I've seen, Montoya should take a few years of seasoning in the minors. The Rangers should learn from their past (Blackburn) and know not to rush Montoya."
For some he just has not looked like the confident netminder who can carry his team on his back and has looked nervous in net. I don't think he is close to being NHL ready YET... but could be someday. He has the tools to be a successful NHL goalie, but he could also end up becoming another Jamie Storr.
I personally think it is a HUGE gamble and a big risk selecting a goalie early in the 1st round. I did my own research and here is a list of goalies taken in the first round from 1988-2001.
Muzzatti
Kolzig
Kidd
Brodeur
Thibault
Storr
Fichaud
Ryabchikov
Cloutier
Giguere
Biron
Boucher
Denis
Hillier
Luongo
Noronen
Damphousse
DesRochers
Chouinard
Finley
Ouellet
Ahonen
DiPietro
Krahn
Leclaire
Blackburn
Bacashihua
Munro
I am giving the guys from 2002 and on some time to prove themselves, as I am not writing off Montoya, but posting this to forewarn most of you not to get too excited when he has one good game, and not to get too disappointed when he has one bad game.
To summarize his play in Michigan (and his play at the WJC), I would say this season he has been inconsistent for the most part. And that is why I brought in Storr's name. Some nights he looked like he has all the makings of a #1 goalie. Then the next night he looks horrible. He was brought in to the pros too quickly, but the organization still gave him the vote of confidence. Unfortunately he was never able to consistently perform at the level he was expected to reach.
I know Montoya's level of play could be better than it has been recently.