The offseason leading into the 2025-26 season continues, and with the major events such as the NHL Entry Draft and free agent frenzy completed, the dog days of summer wear on as NHL management groups take a bit of a breather before the training camps begin. In this series, I will try to investigate every Montreal Canadiens roster player, recap their last season and look ahead to this upcoming season. I will look at their place in the organization, their role and their possible impact.
Related: Canadiens 2025-26 Player Previews: Samuel Montembeault
In the next step of the series, I will continue to look at the goaltending situation with the Canadiens’ current backup, Jakub Dobes.
2024-25 Season Recap
Dobes was the Canadiens’ fifth-round selection in 2020, and in his rookie professional season in 2023-24, put up impressive numbers in his 51 starts with the American Hockey League (AHL) Laval Rocket with a record of 24-18-6, 2.93 goals against average (GAA) and a .906 save percentage (SV%). While this wasn’t enough to pull the Rocket into the AHL playoffs, it was enough to earn him the confidence from management to be the starter in Laval.
In 2024-25, Dobes started in Laval 14 times, earning a 9-3-1 record with a 2.44 GAA and .910 SV%. This earned him a call-up to the Canadiens on Dec. 27. Once on the roster, Dobes immediately made a case to remain permanently. One day after his call-up, he made his NHL debut, and the 6-foot-4 goaltender made headlines with a 34-save performance as the Canadiens earned a 4-0 shutout win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. He won his first five NHL starts while allowing only eight goals for a 1.55 GAA and .940 SV%.
His next 11 starts saw him struggle somewhat, but provided Montreal with an opportunity to pick up points in most of those games with a 2-4-3 record. He finished the regular season with solid numbers for a backup goaltender, a 7-4-3 record with a 2.74 GAA and a .909 SV%. Unexpectedly, he was forced to step into the starter’s role in the playoffs versus the Washington Capitals when Samuel Montembeault went down with an injury. Dobes backstopped the Canadiens to a victory in that game, their only one of the series. By the time Montreal had been eliminated, Dobes had a 1-2 record with a 2.91 GAA and .881 SV%.
2025-26 Season Expectations
Dobes will go into 2025-26 with a new two-year contract paying him $965,000 per season. For Dobes to succeed this season, preparation will be key. Knowing that he will be getting starts regularly will help him know what to prepare for, as Montreal will have the most back-to-back games scheduled in the NHL. That, and the need to keep Montembeault’s starts down to around 55 to 60 games, allowing the Montreal starter a chance to get sufficient rest to keep his game in top form.
Because of this, Dobes could expect to play 25 to 30 games. He has proven himself capable of handling the rigours of as many as 50 starts in a season, so he won’t be physically overwhelmed by the schedule. The challenge for him will be mental. He will need to find methods to remain focused even if he goes eight or even 10 days between starts. The expectations for any backup goaltender, especially on a team with playoff aspirations, is that they can win about half of their starts. That means that if he starts 25 games, he will need to win 13 games. If he can keep his SV% of .909 from last season over the course of 25 starts, that is a real possibility. That doesn’t mean Dobes couldn’t do better than that, but the expectation is for him to get to those numbers to provide Montreal with the best possible chances of making the playoffs, especially if Montembeault can repeat his 31 win performance from 2024-25, because together, that would give Montreal 44 wins, which would be four more than last season.
Dobes has proven himself capable of facing NHL-calibre competition. Having the depth in goal that the Canadiens have at the professional level will allow management to buy the time they need to let Jacob Fowler develop properly in the AHL. While Montreal did sign a veteran goaltender in Kaapo Kahkonen, they will do everything in their power to avoid going into the season with a three-goalie system like they had in 2023-24, especially as it had been a failure in giving their NHL tandem a predictable cycle of starts. The job is clearly Dobes’ to lose out of training camp.
