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Montreal Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes (David Kirouac-Imagn Images)

Canadiens Have Options to Improve Goaltending

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Trege Wilson | Last updated Nov 24, 2025 8:35 AM ET

The Montreal Canadiens started hot this season and were, at one point, among the best teams in the league. Offensively, they were great, but goaltending was an issue, at least with their starter, Sam Montembeault. At the start of the season, backup Jakub Dobes was playing excellently and had some of the best goaltending numbers in the NHL. Then, after around the 12-game mark for the Canadiens, he and Montembeault started playing terribly, and the team has plummeted from one of the top teams to the middle of the pack. If the goaltending doesn’t turn around, the Habs could be on the outside of the playoffs for good.

Canadiens St. Louis Needs to Stick With the Hot Hand

When the season started, head coach Martin St. Louis planned to have Montembeault play most of the games, but when he struggled, St. Louis was forced to play Dobes more. Dobes was hot, putting up Vezina-type numbers and easily winning games for Montreal, but the coach felt he needed to get Montembeault’s confidence back and still put him in even after a loss.

This led to long periods between games for Dobes, and then when he did play next, he got lit up and was pulled in a 7-0 defeat to the Dallas Stars. The biggest issue was the start before the Dallas one. Dobes had an overtime loss and took it hard, but instead of putting him right back out there like St. Louis did with Montembeault, he sat him for an extended period. This long stint after a tough loss could have broken Dobes’ confidence.

With Montembeault still struggling and now Dobes struggling, the Canadiens coach put himself in a deep hole where neither goalie can stop a puck. St. Louis will need to change their game plan because, with 22 games into the season, their supposed number one goalie is still struggling, and they don’t want to ruin Dobes’ development. It’s time for the coach to make the hard decision: he no longer has a valid number one, and the hot hand should be the way forward.

Canadiens’ Goaltending Answer Could Be in Laval

With the goaltending being so poor, the Canadiens could take a chance and call on one of the two goalies playing with the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League (AHL). Kappo Kahkonen and Jacob Fowler are the goalies in Laval, and both are having exceptional starts to their season. When mentioning Laval goaltenders, the first player most people think of is Fowler.

Fowler is the Canadiens’ most recent goaltending protege who many feel has the potential to be the next Carey Price. The best thing for Fowler, however, is to let him play the season out with the Rocket. This is his first full year of professional hockey, and the organization doesn’t want another Cayden Primeau situation where Fowler could be rushed too quickly.

With Fowler’s development in mind, Kahkonen is the Canadiens’ best option to call up to Montreal. They wouldn’t even need to send a player to the Rocket because the Habs are playing with an extra roster spot. Even if they didn’t want to use the extra space, Dobes can avoid waivers and then have time in Laval getting his confidence back, splitting games with Fowler. Kahkonen would provide Montreal with an NHL-experienced goaltender who can play no worse than the goaltending they currently have. He will also offer some competition to Montembeault and Dobes to incentivize them to pick up their game and play better.

Dobes Helps Canadiens Defeat Leafs

Dobes played a solid game for the Canadiens against the Toronto Maple Leafs, stopping 24 of 26 shots en route to a 5-2 victory. In previous games, both goalies were giving up bad goals that should’ve been saves. Dobes, although giving up two goals, did not give Toronto any freebies, and the two he let in were screens that cleanly beat him. For St. Louis, this should be the standard to follow when starting his goalies in the future, and he should go with the hot hand.

It will be interesting to see how the Canadiens’ coaching staff approaches goaltending in their next game. Dobes just finished a solid game that helped his team end a five-game losing streak. The innovative plan would be to keep going with him. St. Louis, however, could decide to give Montembeault another shot and start him in the next game. St. Louis does say he still has confidence in his proclaimed starting goalie and could use that to explain starting Montembeault in the next game. That’s fine, but if he plays poorly again, then it’s time to realize that Montembeault is not the go-to goalie he was last season.