The Laval Rocket took advantage of a struggling Bridgeport Islanders team on Feb. 28 to return to the win column. After two losses in a row, they shut out the Islanders 4-0, and for goaltender Jakub Dobes, it was the best performance he put together all season. He made 35 saves and more importantly, earned his first shutout at the American Hockey League (AHL) level.
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Dobes hasn’t had a great start to his AHL career, entering the Wednesday night game with a .899 save percentage (SV%) and a 3.17 goals-against average (GAA) in 34 games played. For the 22-year-old goaltending prospect, this season isn’t about his stats, and it’s about his progress and the signs that he can become a reliable goaltender in the future. His start against the Islanders proved he can become one.
Dobes As A Project
Goaltenders tend to take more time to develop, and the timeline from the draft to the NHL is hard to predict. With Dobes, that timeline is even tougher to map out, considering his skill set and size. The Islanders have a goaltending prospect in Henrik Tikkanen, who will take a similar trajectory as a 6-foot-8 work in progress. Dobes isn’t as big as Tikkanen, but at 6-foot-4 and weighing 200 pounds, he’s a bigger and more athletic goaltender. It’s what made him a fifth-round selection in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and a standout at Ohio State in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and now he looks to stand out on a Montreal Canadiens team with a strong farm system.
He has similar measurements to Connor Hellebuyck, the Winnipeg Jets starter and 2020 Vezina Trophy winner. It’s hard to project Dobes as the next Hellebuyck, but that’s what the Canadiens hope he becomes. He has the quickness and athletic ability in the net but needs refinement. He played the puck well against the Islanders but would overpursue the play in one direction at times. He’s also adjusting to the speed of the AHL, and the Rocket defense struggling hasn’t helped his cause.
The Rocket allow 3.63 goals per game and 32.08 shots per game, and it forces the goaltenders on the team to play at a high level to keep games close. The shot volume, in particular, was overwhelming for Dobes, and it caused him to struggle, especially early on in the season. He allowed 15 goals in his first three starts, including six in the Oct. 27 loss against the Rochester Americans. Since then, he’s looked like an AHL-level goaltender.
Dobes Starting To Find A Rhythm
Dobes has allowed only two goals or fewer in four of his last five starts, some of which he had to will the Rocket to victory. In the Feb. 21 game against the Hershey Bears, arguably the top team in the AHL, he saved 24 of the 26 shots and all three shootout attempts to allow the Rocket to win the game 3-2.
This season has been an adjustment for Dobes, and the Rocket are starting to see the progress. He’s become a more technical goaltender, anticipating where the play is going, and where the shot is coming from. The game against the Islanders was his best yet, and the opposition generated a surplus of high-quality shots, and he blanked them all in the shutout performance.
What Dobas Provides The Rocket
The Rocket have three goaltenders on their roster, with Dobes being the starter while Kasimir Kaskisuo and Strauss Mann are the backups. Mann is the other prospect on the team at 25 years old but doesn’t have the same upside. The Canadiens have their eyes on Jacob Fowler as the next great goaltender, but he’s only 19 years old and years away from joining the NHL roster.
Dobas is on pace to become a great goaltender at the AHL level and more importantly, become a starter in the NHL. The Canadiens have made significant strides in their rebuild and have put together a good roster, but they need help in the net to become a great team again. Presumably, Samuel Mountembeault will remain the starter for the next few seasons, but the team needs a reliable backup. Dobes can be that and possibly overtake Mountembeault in the starting net in a few seasons.
The Canadiens are still searching for their successor to Carey Price, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner, the 2015 Hart Trophy winner, and a franchise icon who was one of the greatest goaltenders to play in the NHL. It will be a long time until they find someone who can play at that world-class level (if ever), and the hope is they find someone who is at least a step below Price. Goaltending is the position they must address to complete the rebuild, and Dobes can help turn this team into a contender.
