Will you start Jakub Dobes against the Maple Leafs on Saturday in Toronto and should you consider playing him two games in two days on Sunday with the St. Louis Blues at the Bell Centre? Samuel Montembeault doesn’t do the work. And how close are you to drafting Jacob Fowler from the AHL’s Laval Rocket?
Frank over blue sky
Head coach Martin St. Louis said after practice on Friday that Dobes will start in goal against the Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports) and that Montembeault will “probably” start against Blues Sunday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS).
That leads me to believe that if Dobes is excellent against the Leafs, we might see him play back-to-back games.
With the standings so tight in the Atlantic Division and a five-point difference between first and sixth place going into Thursday’s games, this is a good time for the Canadiens to ride on a hot goaltender. They were in third place in the division entering Thursday’s games with a 14-9-3 record, clinching a playoff spot.
Dobes has a record of 9-3-2 with a 3.11 goals-against average and a save percentage of .892, while Montembeault is 5-6-1 with a GAA of 3.61 and a save percentage of .861. The Canadiens have won just one of the last six games Montembeault has played in, in which he had a save percentage of .855.
I’m sure the Canadiens would like Fowler to get a full year of AHL experience before testing him in the NHL. But if Dobes and/or Montembeault fail to provide consistent goaltending, the team may have to call up the 21-year-old Fowler sooner rather than later. In his first 13 games as an AHL rookie, Fowler had a 9-4-0 record with a 2.15 GAA, a .920 save percentage and three shutouts. Calling him would be a way to find out if Fowler is ready for the NHL. If he doesn’t look ready, Fowler can always be sent back to Laval, as the Canadiens did this week with 21-year-old forward Florian Xhekaj after he played his first five games in the NHL and had one assist.
Fowler’s backup in Laval, 29-year-old Kaapo Kahkonen, has also played well with a 6-2-0 record, a 2.50 GAA and a .906 save percentage. Kahkonen has 140 games of NHL experience with the Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche, with a record of 49-68-15 with a GAA of 3.34 and a save percentage of .898. He could be another option for the Canadiens – at least in the short term – if Dobes and Montembeault struggle and management wants to keep Fowler in Laval.
If Jacob Fowler is ultimately brought to the Canadiens, who do you think is most likely to be traded: Samuel Montembeault or Jakub Dobes?
Paul Wong on X
The 29-year-old Montembeault has one season left on his three-year contract with an annual salary cap of $3.15 million. He can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2027.
The 24-year-old Dobes has one season left on his NHL entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $965,000. He can become a restricted free agent on July 1, 2027.
How Montembeault and Dobes play the rest of this season will obviously play a role in determining which GM Kent Hughes might decide to trade to open a spot for Fowler. But because of their age and contract situation, I think Montembeault is the most likely to be traded.
Do you see the Habs making a trade before the Christmas holidays?
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