Canadiens, goaltender Jakub Dobeš agree to 3-year contract extension

The Montreal Canadiens continued locking up their young core Thursday, signing goaltender Jakub Dobeš to a three-year contract extension worth just under $5.4 million per season.

Dobeš, 25, has one year left on his entry-level contract and would have been a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.

The contract, officially worth $5,357,575 per season, comes after a tremendous rookie season for Dobeš, who started all 19 games of the Canadiens’ unlikely run to the Eastern Conference final and led all playoff goalies in goals saved above expected with 13.3, according to Moneypuck.

Dobeš took over as the unchallenged Canadiens No. 1 goaltender at the trade deadline, when incumbent Sam Montembeault became the No. 3 goalie and prospect Jacob Fowler was called up to be the backup. From March 7 to the end of the regular season, Dobeš had a 10-4-0 record with a .924 save percentage, second over that span only to Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning in wins and fifth in save percentage among goaltenders with at least eight games played.

For the season, Dobeš went 29-10-4 with a 2.78 goals against average and .901 save percentage, finishing eight in goals saved above expected, according to Moneypuck. He came fourth in Calder Trophy voting for NHL rookie of the year.

Dobeš’ signing comes a day after the Canadiens extended the contract of Calder runner-up Ivan Demidov for eight years at $9.15 million a year.