Yardbarker
x
Montreal Canadiens Goalie Cracks Top 10 Ranking
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Montreal Canadiens Goalie Cracks Top 10 Ranking

Originally posted on The Sick Podcast  |  By Nick Lariviere  |  Last updated Aug 17, 2026 6:37 PM ET
Google Add us as a preferred source on Google

On Sunday, NHL Network released its list of top 10 goalies in the league, which featured Montreal Canadiens netminder Jakub Dobes as the 10th best goalie.

Seeing Dobes on this list may be a surprise to many, but after last season, he clearly showed he can compete with the best goaltenders in the game. The 25-year-old Dobes is coming off his first full NHL season, where he had a 29-10-4 record alongside his. 901 save percentage and 2.78 GAA in 43 regular season games, after he stole the starting job from a struggling Samuel Montembeault.

While, on the surface, Dobes’ numbers seem about league average, when you look deeper, it shows that his play really took off in the second half of the season. From January 27th until the end of the regular season on April 16th, Dobes’ numbers improved to a .915 save percentage and a 2.53 GAA with a 14-5-1 in his final 20 games of the year.

His .915 save percentage was sixth best in the NHL among all goaltenders who played at least 10 games in that span.

Dobes also finished eighth among all netminders in saves above expected across the NHL for the entire 2025-26 regular season, stopping 17.3 goals above expected. He already put up a good case in the regular season, but in the postseason, his game went to another level.

The main reason that Dobes likely cracked the top 10 goalies list is due to his performance in the playoffs. Dobes finished with a. 908 save percentage and 2.66 GAA with a 9-10 record. Once again on the surface, the numbers don’t tell the full story, as he was much better than the .908 save percentage indicated.

In the first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dobes’ goaltending was the reason why the Montreal Canadiens won the opening round, as he posted a. 923 save percentage and 2.03 GAA. He especially came up big in Game 7 when he stopped 28 of 29 shots to help the Canadiens hold on for a 2-1 victory despite only having nine shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy. The second round against the Buffalo Sabres was more of a challenge, but when the Canadiens needed Dobes most, he came up big to secure the series. Dobes finished the playoffs with a league-best 13.3 goals above expected.

His play earned him votes for the Calder Trophy as he finished 4th in the Rookie of the Year voting. As a result, his accolades during the 2025-26 season earned him the right to be among the league’s top 10 goaltenders.

While the NHL Network’s list is also about the reputation of a player/goalie, it seems like they take projectability into account as well, considering Jesper Wallestadt, another rookie was their ninth best netminder just ahead of Dobes on the list for the 2026-27 campaign. Despite Dobes finishing ahead of Wallestadt in the Rookie of the Year voting, the potential of the Minnesota Wild netminder likely put him ahead on their list.

Currently, the Montreal Canadiens have had a player on each of the NHL Network’s three lists in the top 10 so far, with Cole Caufield as the ninth-best winger, Lane Hutson as the sixth-best defenseman, and now Dobes being 10th, joining them. The NHL Network will release their 20 best centres next Sunday, August 23rd, and Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is expected to also fall around the 10th best.

Do you agree with Dobes as the NHL’s 10th best goalie according to NHL Network?

This article first appeared on The Sick Podcast and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.