Ivan Demidov’s scoring surge and Jakub Dobes’ emergence in net signal a new era of contention in Montreal as both rookies dominate the NHL's annual award voting.
The 2026 Calder Trophy voting results are officially out, and the future is looking very bright in Montreal. Although New York Islanders' defensemen Matthew Schaefer took home the award. Montreal Canadiens' rookies Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes both finishing in the top four is a huge nod to the organization.
Demidov ended up as the runner-up after a season where he led all rookies in scoring with 62 points in 82 games. For a 20-year-old in the NHL and producing like that right away, it’s hard to ask for much more.
He also joins a pretty short list of Canadiens rookies to ever clear the 60-point mark, which says enough on its own. Finishing second in the Calder Trophy voting is great, but the bigger takeaway is much simpler than that. Demidov is going to be a great player in this league for a long time.
As for Dobes, him finishing fourth might be the more intriguing storyline.
Rookie goalies don’t usually show up in Calder voting, especially not in a market like Montreal. At the start of the season, he was projected to be the backup. However, now as the Canadiens battle the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, he has taken over the starter role completely.
He finished with 29 wins and gave the Canadiens something they've been without since Carey Price retired.
The NHL needs the Canadiens to be a contending team, and now with the help of Demidov and Dobes, they are.