Is Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes the real deal?

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis(sellishockey)
Is Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes the real deal?
Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

When the Montreal Canadiens called up Jakub Dobes in late December to replace a struggling Cayden Primeau, it was primarily to have Primeau regain his confidence after a dismal start to the NHL campaign.

Primeau has looked quite good, winning all four of his starts with the Laval Rocket so far with a .939 save percentage. Those are the types of numbers that would get you a trip back to the NHL in no time.

Except Dobes is 5-0-0 with a .940 save percentage with the big club – and he might be sticking around in Montreal for the foreseeable future. He’s been so good that the Canadiens have suddenly become one of the top teams in the NHL over the past month. Outside of a second-half collapse against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they’ve shown very few cracks in the armor.

The 23-year-old is in just his second year of pro hockey after getting drafted in his second year of eligibility in 2020. A fifth-round pick, Dobes was drafted after splitting the year between the NAHL and USHL – putting up modest numbers with the Omaha Lancers.

In fact, he was always just a decent-at-best goaltender, spending his first draft season playing AAA hockey. Outside of a one-off with the U-16 team in 2016-17 and a shaky performance during the 2019 World Junior A Challenge, Dobes had never really been too high on Czechia’s national team radar.

Everything came together during his two years at Ohio State University. He played 75 games over his two years there, earning top goaltender honors in the Big Ten in 2022. That hasn’t been a coveted award, though – since the award was first handed out in 2014, Dobes has been the only goaltender to play more than two NHL games.

But talk about making the most of your opportunity. Among goaltenders with at least five starts since his debut on Dec. 28, Dobes has the sixth-best 5-on-5 save percentage at .953. He has the sixth-best goals saved above average at 3.82, and the 10th-best goals saved above expected at 5.73. Starting goalie Samuel Montembeault has done his job to snag victories, but Dobes’ numbers have simply been better.

It’s not uncommon for an inexperienced backup to get easier starts, but he has wins against Florida (he shut them out in his debut), Colorado, Washington, Dallas and the New York Rangers. The Rangers are the worst of the five teams, and it happened to be Dobes’ most difficult start – allowing four goals for the first time in his career. It was a rocky first half, but he shut the door down near the end as the Canadiens completed the overtime victory.

We’ve seen young goalies come in and put on absolute heaters to start their careers before. But Dobes has been a legitimate reason why the Canadiens keep pushing up the standings. It might remind Canadiens fans of Charlie Lindgren, who went 3-1-1 to kick off the 2017-18 season, allowing just seven goals in those five games. At the time, he looked like a future NHL backup at best – now, he’s part of one of the best goaltending duos in the NHL in Washington.

The results don’t lie – Dobes is giving fits to some of the best shooters in the NHL. Dobes has allowed just eight goals in his five games – with four coming against the Rangers. While he has allowed goals to guys like Mikko Rantanen and Chris Kreider, he has managed to stand tall against the likes of Sam Reinhart, Nathan MacKinnon, Alex Ovechkin, Matt Duchene and Artemi Panarin. Nothing seems to faze Dobes.

Montembeault is still the starting goalie, even if his numbers have bounced around a bit in recent weeks. Sometimes, the Canadiens have stepped up enough to mitigate tough nights in the crease. But while Primeau seemingly lost his confidence and couldn’t get anything done anymore, Dobes has been absolutely electric with no signs of slowing down.

Will Dobes remain Montreal’s backup for the rest of the season? He’s bound to eventually lose a few games at some point, but the Canadiens will ride the wave as long as they can. This could be the classic “young goalie gets hot, steals the spotlight and then comes back to Earth” story we’ve seen all too often.

But what if it isn’t? What if Dobes is the real deal? Well, then the Canadiens might have some found money on their hands in a year full of defying the odds. For now, let’s see how often coach Martin St. Louis utilizes his young keeper as the team looks to potentially chase a playoff spot come April.

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