Jakub Dobes off to slow start for Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens had sky-high hopes for this season after making a run to the 2026 Eastern Conference Final, and the new year has proven to be a bit of a mixed bag to this point.

The team owns a 3-3-1 record, and a common thread in a few of the losses has been the poor play of goaltender Jakub Dobes. Dobes was a revelation down the stretch and into the postseason last year, so much so that he earned a three-year contract extension at a price tag of about $5.35 million.

But so far in 2026-27, he’s been one of the worst starters in the league. The Czech currently has a .841 save percentage and 4.63 goals against average, putting the Habs in a situation similar to the one they were in for the first half of last year.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed the level of concern that there should be in Montreal about their starting goalie’s struggles.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s touch on the Habs then, because Jacob Fowler was going to start the year in the American League, and then Montembeault gets hurt, so Fowler comes up, and maybe that Montembeault injury is a little bit of a blessing in disguise because you can see Fowler’s the guy with numbers. Last night, Dobes, it’s another five spot for him. So far this season, he’s played four games. He’s allowed five goals, two goals and then six, five and five. I mean, everyone looked at what he did last year as a 24 year old taking over that crease when they really needed it. Montembeault’s struggles at the beginning of last year kind of had Habs fans sitting there being like, ‘What’s gonna happen?’ But Dobes grabbed the crease; he was excellent in the playoffs. This year he’s stumbling out of the gates… For right now, man, development’s never linear, and especially with goaltending.

Carter Hutton: I guess the best thing for Jakub Dobes right now is knowing that you just locked up that three-year contract at five-plus million a year to have a little bit of security. Because that’s the way it goes; what if this year just goes brutal? Right now league save percentage is at .891 for league average, what is that a 25-year low or something? Crazy… I still think sometimes, just like the contract situation, our brains are so tied to like .915’s and .920’s being good where now .906 is a really good save percentage… For Jakub Dobes, he kind of had lightning in a bottle last year too. He was in a zone. He was feeling it all the time. Now to come back out again and get into that rhythm. I don’t want to say it’s at a loss, but right now having three good guys in your system to play and push is going to be very important for the future of the Montreal Canadiens.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…