When the playoffs are over, Montreal Canadiens' GM Kent Hughes will have to roll up his sleeves and find a way to make room for Jacob Fowler with the Habs. That likely means trading Samuel Montembeault and betting on youth.
The Montreal Canadiens’ goaltending has been a hot topic this season. Samuel Montembeault struggled all year, and because the team kept giving him opportunities to bounce back, eventually, Jakub Dobes struggled as well. Some tend to forget, but Dobes was flawless in October. He played six games in October and won them all, averaging a .922 SV.
Now, with Montembeault having been cast aside and Dobes finally getting the respect he deserves, the Czech netminder is on fire. Martin St-Louis often talks about players being in the right chair, and with 26 wins in 37 games started, which means he won 70 percent of his starts, Dobes has won the number one goaltender’s chair and with good reason.
Montembeault was never going to be the Canadiens’ goaltender of the future; there’s a reason why Kent Hughes signed him to a three-year bridge deal. The plan was for Jacob Fowler to be the Habs’ number one when the team would be ready to contend, but Dobes didn’t get that memo. He leads all rookie netminders with 26 wins, six more than second-place Yaroslav Askarov.
Initially, Jacob Fowler was meant to spend the whole season with the Laval Rocket, but Montembeault’s fall from grace has altered the plan. Granted, Fowler doesn’t have much experience, but he doesn’t look like a deer in the headlights when he gets the net; he looks like he belongs.
Barring an unmitigated disaster in the last eight games of the regular season or in the playoffs, this summer, Kent Hughes will have to move Montembeault. Fowler has proven that he can play in the big league and learn in it. By the start of next season, Dobes will be 25, and Fowler will be 21; that’s a young tandem, but it’s not unheard of.
The Canadiens have progressed in their rebuild, and the plan is no longer solely to develop players; it’s about winning as well. While the two goaltenders are young, they are the ones most likely to give Montreal wins, and they should be the two goaltenders for the near future.
There’s nothing wrong with two goaltenders splitting the workload; it worked great for the Boston Bruins when they had Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark splitting the goaltending duties. Both goalies were playing well and pushing each other, and it worked well until Boston had to pay them big bucks. Dobes is signed for another year, after which he’ll be an RFA with arbitration rights, while Fowler will be an RFA at the end of the 2028-29 season. Until then, the Habs can have a real bargain in net.
If both goalies are still doing great by then, the Habs might have to choose, but for now, they should go full steam ahead with Dobes and Fowler. As things stand, it still looks like Fowler is the goaltender of the future, but Dobes shouldn’t be automatically cast aside; he has earned the right to be considered.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.