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Ryan Snow on Habs Goaltending |
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Going into the 2025-2026 season, the Habs have the goalie position locked up with Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes between the pipes. While both goaltenders have shown they belong in the NHL, is it enough?
Samuel Montembeault
Since being picked up on waivers in 2021 from Florida, Montembeault has proven to be an amazing pick up. After being given the starting job following Allen’s departure, he has shown that he’s a legit starter in the league. His performances earned him a spot on team Canada for the Four Nations Face-Off. Although he did not play, this is a great accomplishment to his young career.
What I really like about Montembeault is his calm and collected demeanor on the ice. He’s rarely rattled and is able to stay focused after giving up a goal. He’s a big guy at 6’3 and has really strong lateral movements. Often last year, he robbed opposing players by going from one post to the other, taking away goals from players camping back door. His glove hand is quick and he has decent rebound control. Overall, a solid goalie.
Areas which need improvement, as with a lot of goalies in this era, is consistency. With the added workload last year, he has a few off games down the stretch. I found he was starting too many games and I often wanted to see Dobes in the pipes to give Montembeault a break. This is not really a criticism of Montembeau, but more the reality of the league now. This is a fast league and I personally don’t think a goalie should start more than 60 games in order for them to be fresh enough for the playoffs. I would have liked to have seen Dobes get 3-4 more starts down the stretch in order to have a fresher Montembeault. I remember a stretch in March where the Habs played the Islanders, Avs, Sens and Blues where I would have started Dobes in two of those games just to balance things out and get Dobes some game time.
Jakub Dobes
I really like Dobes. At 6’4 he’s another big body and has shown tremendous athleticism. Like Monty, he has great lateral movements and seems cool as a cucumber out there. Off the ice, I love his quirky personality, and having a guy like that can only be a benefit in the dressing room. He’s shown he can be relied upon and did a good job when Monty went down with injury in the playoffs. Also, just watching him play, I really like his style. He just seems smooth and at times, things look effortless for him, a little like Price.
Like Montembeault, consistency is an issue. Where I thought Montembealut played too much, I found Dobes did not play enough. After the Four Nations, I would have played Dobes more to mitigate the fact he had not seen game action during the tournament. I believe this affected his play as he had a lot of time off between starts down the stretch. Also, he needs to clean up his rebound control and make quicker decisions when he needs to come out of his net to handle the puck. However, he was a rookie and I really think those issues will resolve themselves with playing time. I really believe he has the potential to be a great number one goalie.
For next season, I would like to see a more balanced deployment with Monty get 52-60 starts and Dobes getting 22-30 starts. I think this will be to the benefit of both goalies and in the end, the team.
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