Canadiens reward goalie Jakub Dobes with three-year contract extension
Jakub Dobes is the biggest reason the Canadiens advanced to the Eastern Conference final this season.
On Thursday, Dobes was rewarded by Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes with a three-year, US$16.07-million contract that will kick in for the 2027-28 season with an annual salary-cap hit of US$5,357,575. The 25-year-old has one more season remaining on his current contract with a US$965,000 salary-cap hit.
Dobes posted a 2.66 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in 19 playoff games as the Canadiens advanced to the Eastern Conference final before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. In Game 7 wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Dobes stopped 65 of 68 shots for a .956 save percentage.
Dobes’s contract extension comes a day after Hughes signed Russian forward Ivan Demidov to an eight-year, US$73.2 million contract extension.
Dobes, now signed through the 2029-30 season, becomes another core piece of the team Hughes has locked up long term. Demidov is signed through the 2034-35 season; Lane Hutson is under contract through 2033-34; Noah Dobson and Juraj Slafkovsky are signed through 2032-33; Cole Caufield, Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson are all signed through 2030-31; captain Nick Suzuki is signed through 2029-30.
“It’s exciting,” Dobes said. “I feel like we have a good group. End of the day, I feel like everyone wants to win, which is really important to get the deals done and keep the guys together. I feel like everything was pretty smooth with all of us.
“I’m just excited that everyone is on the same page and we want to do what’s best for us and we think as a group,” Dobes added. “I’m excited. I feel like we have a lot of potential to in the next couple of years get something exciting done. Hopefully, we’ll be better than last year. I’m really proud of the guys, everyone staying here and keeping the same team together pretty much.”
During the regular season, Dobes had a 29-10-4 record with a 2.78 GAA and a .901 save percentage. He finished fourth in voting for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie after being selected by the Canadiens in the fifth round (136th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. Dobes was the 13th goalie selected at that draft and has come a long way since then.
Dobes said on a Zoom conference with Montreal media members Thursday he was happy to get his contract situation resolved early in the summer.
“I just want to feel comfortable and just focus on hockey, so I feel like it was really important this summer to kind of get it done with,” Dobes said. “Now, for four more years, I can just simply focus to get better and play at my best.
“I don’t feel like the money’s too important to me,” he added. “I’m just happy I can focus on hockey and have a career of mine and try to win a championship in Montreal.”
The hiring of Marco Marciano as goalie coach on Jan. 28 to replace Eric Raymond was a turning point in Dobes’s season. In the 19 regular-season games Dobes played after Marciano was promoted from the AHL’s Laval Rocket, he had a 13-5-1 record with a 2.57 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
“With Marco coming in it definitely made me a way better goalie and I feel like I’m excited for next year,” Dobes said. “I feel like if I play like last year I’m just excited for my potential and what can I bring to this team.”
There’s no doubt now Dobes is the Canadiens’ No. 1 goalie.
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If Dobes can continue to play like he did last season, his contract will be a bargain — especially when you consider the Toronto Maple Leafs signed 37-year-old goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to a three-year, US$21-million contract on Wednesday with an annual salary-cap hit of US$7 million.
The fact it’s only a three-year extension for Dobes gives 21-year-old Jacob Fowler time to challenge him for the No. 1 job with the Canadiens moving forward.
The next decision Hughes needs to make concerning the goaltending situation is what to do with Samuel Montembeault because the GM won’t want to go into next season carrying three goalies.
Montembeault, 29, has one more season left on his contract with a salary-cap hit of US$3.15 million. Fowler has two seasons left on his NHL entry-level contract with a salary-cap hit of US$945,833.
It seems likely now Montembeault will get traded this summer.
