Is Jakub Dobes’ extension a risk for the Canadiens?
The Montreal Canadiens locked up goaltender Jakub Dobes to a three-year extension with a $5,357,575 million cap hit on Thursday, securing one of their young netminders for a few more years. It came as a surprise to some, considering he’s only played 81 games at the NHL, but it was a reward for his stellar play in the playoffs.
But is Dobes’ extension an unnecessary risk? Carter Hutton and Tyler Yaremchuk talked on Daily Faceoff Live about whether or not the Habs are committing to early to a goalie with limited experience.
Carter Hutton: I was surprised at the AAV. But the term is so short in three years that if he drops off a bit, you’re not married to him, and you still have Jacob Fowler who could play minutes and be there. I honestly like that they kept Montembeault around because I truly think that if you have Dobes, and Montembeault could bounce back potentially, you still have a ton of time for Jacob Fowler to play minutes in the American Hockey League and get better if Jakub Dobes is your guy.
The way this team is structured moving forward, they’re going to have so much extra cap space that if Dobes doesn’t really work out, you can eat that number for a little while if Fowler comes up and gets the job done.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Yeah, that’s fair. For me, I think the extension is very player friendly. I was maybe a bit of a Dobes detractor at points in the playoffs. Not that I don’t like the goalie, but I kept saying, “hey, they’re playing him a ton here, and he’s never had to play this much”. The reason I think it’s player-friendly is he turned one good season and one good playoff run into $16 million guaranteed.
The Habs also didn’t have to do this yet. I almost liken it a little bit to that Filip Gustafsson situation in Minnesota where if Dobes would have had another really good season next year, does he really get to the point where he’s worth more than $5-5.3 million? I don’t think so. If anything, you might have been able to be more sure of him and said, “hey, let’s do an 8-year deal at $5.3 and let’s lock you up because now we know”.
This just feels a year too early. What’s the upside here? He could be worth this money, but you have Jacob Fowler. Why wouldn’t you wait another year? You’re not risking walking Dobes to UFA status. He still would have been an RFA. I think it’s just a year too early and a tad premature.
Carter Hutton: Yeah, I could see that. I could see what you mean. Because if it starts out bad this year, you’re not married to it. Or maybe you just drive that number a little bit lower with that term. But for Jakub Dobes, you’re getting rewarded. Maybe it’s a sense of confidence, because his game has developed, he has grown a lot.
And for the Montreal Canadiens, they are in a good, good situation. Even going into this year, just with 3 goalies and they’re signed for just over $5 million with the amount of players that they have locked under contract. They are in a good spot right now in the Atlantic where it felt like everybody was just in this arms race. Montreal just was status quo. And I think right now for them, waiting in the weeds and being patient is probably the best thing that they’ve been capable of doing.
You can watch the full episode here…