Montreal Canadiens Role Profiles: Jakub Dobes

Of course, Dobes would come back to earth in November, where he had his worst month of the season, going 2-3-2 with a rough .849 save percentage and 4.42 GAA, but he would bounce back well after the month. His first loss of the season came in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils, which was the same result as his first career defeat the year before. As a result, he started tearing up in the post-game interviews and was thrown off his game for multiple games before he got things back on track. 

A lot of his ability to bounce back could be traced back to going to see a sports psychologist soon after his struggles began. This was possibly the key situation that turned things completely around for Dobes, as from that point on, he wouldn’t let any other game get to him, bouncing back with great performances after every single tough game that he had. Another major impact on Dobes’ season was when the Montreal Canadiens fired goalie coach Eric Raymond and promoted goalie coach Marco Marciano. With Marciano, Dobes’ positioning would improve incredibly, taking his game to the next level. Therefore, two very important things happened for Dobes to up his game and become the goalie that the Canadiens needed during the 2025-26 season.

Dobes would eventually play well enough to earn the full-time starter role after the Olympic break in February. When the month of November is removed from Dobes’ stats on the year, all his individual numbers improve drastically, as he had a .911 save percentage and 2.49 GAA alongside a 27-7-2 record in his 36 regular-season games outside of November. Not to mention, post the Olympic break, Dobes had a .916 save percentage with that same 2.49 GAA (showing consistency) and an 11-5 record as the official starting goaltender. 

The Montreal Canadiens’ new starting goaltender even had a career-high eight-game winning streak from March 24th to April 9th, which included two massive games against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which clearly prepared him for the Round 1 playoff series.

In the playoffs, he was even better as the 25-year-old Dobes posted a .908 save percentage and 2.66 GAA, where he helped lead the way for the Montreal Canadiens to make a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals before they fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games. It was his performance in Round 1 that really showed just how clutch a goaltender he could be. 

He posted a .923 save percentage and 2.03 in the seven-game series to outperform the eventual Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy and take the Canadiens to Round 2. Dobes’ best game of the playoffs came in the series-deciding Game 7, when he allowed just one goal on 29 shots as the Canadiens were able to win 2-1 despite taking just nine shots. The reality is if Dobes hadn’t been so good, there is no way that the Canadiens would make it to Round 2, let alone the Eastern Conference Finals.

Dobes had some struggles against the Buffalo Sabres in Round 2, but he was always able to bounce back, not letting his opponents win consecutive games throughout the series. He had a .897 save percentage and 3.03 GAA in his second seven-game series, but when the series was on the line, he made the saves needed that led to Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Newhook scoring the series winner. 

Despite continuing to stand on his head against the Hurricanes, Dobes wasn’t able to make up for the lack of gas left in the tank after two seven-game series. For a team that was dominated as badly as the Canadiens were in those Eastern Conference Finals, a .903 save percentage by Dobes looks pretty good on an individual standpoint.

Throughout the second half of the regular season and the playoffs, Dobes proved why he deserves to be the starter despite only having 1.5 years of NHL experience. Although it can be argued that the long playoff run he had can count as a lot of experience. Due to his amazing year, NHL Network ranked him as their 10th best goaltender ahead of the 2026-27 season this past Sunday.

With a rookie, Jacob Fowler, expected to be Dobes’ backup, the starts will likely be split 50-34 with the new 84-game schedule, as the 21-year-old will need to play a good amount to continue his development. However, if Montembeault is still around and the Canadiens choose to send Fowler down to the Laval Rocket for a while, Dobes could end up playing a little more during the 2026-27 campaign. 

Either way, Dobes will be the main guy in net with the Canadiens for the 2026-27 season. He will be looking to continue the success that he had last year.

Do you think Dobes will be able to replicate or be even better than he was during the 2025-26 season?

If you haven’t already, read yesterday’s Montreal Canadiens Role Profile on Arber Xhekaj.