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Dobes Rewarded By Canadiens For Challenging Ascension To NHL
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- Dobes Rewarded By Canadiens For Challenging Ascension To NHL
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Montreal Canadiens made the right decision by offering rookie netminder Jakub Dobes a three-year contract extension that carries a $5.375M annual average value (AAV).
The Montreal Canadiens have long been a bastion of goaltending excellence throughout their storied existence, though the concept of being a goalie-driven team is no longer accurate.
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Or perhaps a more accurate description would be to suggest the Canadiens were reasonably comfortable with their goaltending situation heading into the 2025-26 season, but the expectations for Dobes were tempered significantly.
After all, he was simply the team's backup netminder.
And yet, Dobes would go on to become one of Montreal's most valuable players, both in the regular season and the playoffs.
In 19 playoff games, Dobes improved upon his regular-season save percentage (.901), pushing it to .908, a relatively arduous task.
Jakub Dobes Ascension
Selected 136th overall in 2020, Dobes was never described as the heir apparent, as was the case with fellow netminder Jacob Fowler .
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More than anything, he was seen as a decent stop-gap measure, both in the AHL and NHL. With Dobes and Samuel Montembeault in the NHL, Fowler would have plenty of time to find his rhythm with the Rocket, without being exposed to the high-stress situation that is intrinsically tied to being a goaltender in Montreal.
Seeing as there are too many goaltenders for the positions available in the NHL and AHL, simply earning a start with the Canadiens should have been seen as quite the accomplishment for Dobes.
He was placed in a high-stress environment, while dealing with an overabundance of internal competition. For example, in 2024-25, Dobes shared the Rocket's net with no fewer than four other goaltenders, making it a very difficult situation for which to prepare.
And while there's no doubt he deserves his contract extension, not to mention the relative stability that is offered with a three-year deal, it must be said that Dobes defied the odds to become the Montreal Canadiens' starting goalie, a situation that has rarely occurred in this market, where starting goaltenders are trained for the assignment years-upon-years before being thrust into the role.
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