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Young Canadiens Players Named To All-Rookie Team
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- Young Canadiens Players Named To All-Rookie Team
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Two members of the Montreal Canadiens were named to the NHL's All-Rookie Team on Friday afternoon: forward Ivan Demidov and goaltender Jakub Dobes . Voting was conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and took place at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.
Demidov and Dobes join Matthew Schaefer ( New York Islanders ), Beckett Senneckke ( Anaheim Ducks ), Alexander Nikishin ( Carolina Hurricanes ) and Jimmy Snuggerud ( St. Louis Blues ) on the team.
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This accolade is in addition to Demidov being named a finalist for the Calder Trophy, given to the top NHL rookie every season. Demidov finished second in voting, while 18-year-old defenceman Schaefer swept the first-place votes.
Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks
Demidov had a fantastic freshman season in the NHL, and though he did not manage to capture the Calder Trophy, he finished the year with 19 goals and 43 assists in 82 games, leading all first-year players in scoring in the process.
He also provided the type of spark the Canadiens needed throughout the regular season whenever the first line decided to take a night off.
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The Canadiens are yet to find ideal usage for Demidov when analyzing his underlying numbers, but his raw skill set is beyond encouraging, and worthy of further investment.
As for Dobes, he was the best rookie netminder in 2025-26, as evidenced by his 29-10-4 record, not to mention his .901 save percentage. While it's true that Jesper Wallstedt had a better save percentage (.916), he won 10 fewer games.
He also stabilized the Canadiens when they needed most, with the help of fellow rookie netminder Jacob Fowler . To put it simply, designated starter Samuel Montembeault lost his mechanics, leading to an increase workload for both Dobes and Fowler.
Regardless of how he ended up being the team's starting goaltender, it's fair to suggest Dobes was in a pressure-packed situation, and responded as well as anyone could have expected.
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And it's also important to remember that very few teams end up having two players on the All-Rookie Team on any given season. To make matters more interesting, the Habs had a rookie in their lineup that managed to score 22 goals, which would have been enough to include Oliver Kapanen on the All-Rookie Team in most seasons that did not include star youngsters such as Schaefer and Sennecke.
This is the second consecutive season in which the Canadiens have had a player on the All-Rookie Team, with phenom Lane Hutson earning a spot in 2024-25. Prior to him, it was Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki who was last given the honour (2019-20).
