Montreal Canadiens’ Jakub Dobes Building His Own Legacy in Montreal – The Hockey Writers –

During the Montreal Canadiens’ entertaining run to the Eastern Conference Final this past spring, the streets of Montreal underwent some interesting changes.

One of the city’s well-known bars, Double’s, altered its sign out front to say “Dobes’s”. Not too far away, a bakery created a new specialty item called the “Dobes Puck Cookie”. To some residents, these changes were sort of weird. But in a hockey-crazed city like Montreal, most knew immediately the spark behind them was a certain goaltender who’d won over the city amid his historic rookie campaign: Jakub Dobes.

In just two seasons on the Canadiens’ roster, Dobes has quickly emerged as the saviour between the pipes the organization has been searching for since Carey Price’s Hall-of-Fame career ended prematurely. He already stands alongside some of the NHL’s greatest netminders in terms of rookie records, and has brought a sense of coolness and composure to Montreal’s crease that is almost never seen by players as young as him.

The Canadiens inked Dobes to a three-year contract this offseason, making it crystal clear that the organization’s brass believes he still has plenty more to give going forward. If last season’s playoffs said anything, it’s that he will probably have the advantage of opening 2026-27 as the Habs’ starting netminder from the get-go. The question is whether he can continue to outperform his peers and hang on to that spot. Nothing in the NHL is guaranteed, after all.

But before Dobes and the Canadiens open their campaign with a road matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sept. 29, here’s a look back at how Dobes got to where he is now.

Breaking Out of the AHL

Dobes wasn’t one of the more coveted goaltenders for the taking in the 2020 NHL Draft. In fact, NHL.com didn’t even place him within the draft’s top 10 goalie prospects before the event. Up-and-coming puckstoppers like Yaroslav Askarov, Nico Daws, and Joel Blomqvist, among others, were seen as the best options.

On the day of the draft, the Canadiens weren’t in serious need of a goaltender. That’s why out of the eight picks Montreal made, all but one were spent on skaters. With one of their final selections of the draft (fifth round, 136th overall), the Habs took Dobes.

After he was drafted, there was reason to be skeptical whether Dobes had what it took to thrive at the professional level. During his time in the NCAA with the Ohio State Buckeyes, he turned in solid numbers. In both his years with the team, he had 21 wins and kept his save percentage (SV%) above .910. However, it was evident he had room to grow.

According to a Sportsnet scouting report on Dobes from December 2022, he struggled to control rebounds, which negated his size advantage by forcing him to move quickly to make unnecessary secondary saves. The article even placed Dobes under the “Trending Flat” category.

Despite his mechanics not yet being completely sound, Dobes impressed during his first stint in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Laval Rocket in 2023-24. In 51 appearances during the regular season — tied for the most among all goalies that season — he came away with 24 wins and 18 losses. He also posted a strong .906 SV%. With the Canadiens’ starting goalie slot now open for the taking with Price out of the picture, Dobes received the call-up he’d been waiting years to hear the following season.

Dobes’ First Stint in the NHL

Dobes didn’t play enough in the NHL during the Canadiens’ 2024-25 campaign for it to count as his rookie season, but he still made history nonetheless.

The young netminder was given a tough test in his NHL debut on Dec. 28, 2024, as he and the Canadiens took on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on the road. Dobes didn’t just exceed expectations that day; he obliterated them.

Faced with a squad that eventually went on to hoist the Cup again later that year, Dobes put together a legendary performance. He stonewalled the Cats to the tune of a 34-save shutout, as the Habs stunned one of hockey’s most dangerous teams with a 4-0 victory. With the win, Dobes became just the fourth Canadiens goalie ever to post a shutout in his debut and the seventh in league history to down the defending champs in his first game, per NHL.com.

Jakub Dobes gets his first NHL shutout in his NHL debut vs. the defending champs

What a day for the kid 👏 pic.twitter.com/2dKAjZiGeh

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 28, 2024

Dobes went on to play in 15 more contests for the Habs during the regular season, and even saw his first few games of action in the Stanley Cup Playoffs amid Montreal’s first-round battle with the Washington Capitals.

A Rookie Season to Remember

After showing flashes of brilliance during his first taste of the NHL in 2024-25, Dobes built on those moments in 2025-26 by embarking on one of the most remarkable rookie campaigns in Canadiens history.

Fresh off signing a two-year contract with the Habs on July 6, 2025, Dobes started the season by becoming the 10th rookie netminder in NHL history to earn a victory in each of his first six games. Still competing for the clear starting job throughout the season with fellow goalies Sam Montembeault and Jacob Fowler, Dobes appeared in just over half of Montreal’s 82 regular-season contests. He made each one count.

By the time the playoffs rolled around, Dobes’ 29-10-4 record between the pipes led all rookies. Ken Dryden (39), Bill Durnan (38) and Jacques Plante (33) are the only Canadiens goalies to collect more wins during their rookie campaign, per Statmuse. This made naming Dobes the starter in the Habs’ first-round meeting with the division rival Tampa Bay Lightning a no-brainer for head coach Martin St. Louis.

Through the first two rounds, Dobes’ endurance was put to the test more than anything else. With the Canadiens requiring two seven-game series to advance to the Eastern Conference Final, he started more games than any other goalie in the postseason throughout the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Thus, without much offensive help in the third round against the Carolina Hurricanes, Dobes finally ran out of gas. After stealing Game 1 on the road, the Habs went on to lose four straight games as the Canes ultimately captured the Stanley Cup days later. Still, Dobes cemented himself in the record books by accomplishing some impressive feats.

• He became the second rookie goalie in NHL history to win more than one Game 7 on the road in a playoff run.

• He became the third goalie in Canadiens history to win two Game 7s in the same playoff run.

• He became the third rookie goalie in NHL history to collect wins in seven of his first nine road contests in a single postseason run.

Building His Own Legacy

In his short time in Montreal, it’s impressive how much of an impact Dobes has made as a member of the Canadiens. The city has embraced him, and he’s responded in kind.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s been unbelievable,” Dobes said. “My family’s here, and they’re loving every second of it. And really grateful for what I have [achieved] and how much the fans love me and love our team,” Dobes said in an interview with The Big Lead.

As Dobes’ career progresses, he will continue to be compared to other Canadiens goalies who came before him. But that shouldn’t — and probably doesn’t — matter much to him. With plenty of hockey ahead of him, he deserves the chance to construct his own unique legacy in Montreal. What that legacy ultimately will become remains to be seen.