HabsWorld.net --
The Habs have signed another one of their college prospects, announcing on Friday that they’ve signed goaltender Jakub Dobes to a two-year, entry-level deal. The contract carries an AAV of $925,000 and will begin next season.
The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Canadiens back in 2020 (136th overall) and has really seen his game take off since moving to college hockey in 2021-22. He posted a stellar .934 SV% in 35 games in his freshman year at Ohio State which helped jump him to 15th in our annual Prospect Rankings series. He went into that season looking to push for playing time in the strong half of a platoon but that lasted about two weeks before he took over as the full-fledged starter.
This season, his numbers were down a little bit but were still impressive. Dobes played in 40 games, posting a 2.31 GAA and a .918 SV% while helping the Buckeyes get to the Round of 8 in the Frozen Four tournament, knocking out Sean Farrell and Harvard along the way. He still had two years of eligibility remaining but Montreal has decided that it’s time for a new test.
That new test will come with Laval and could be as soon as this season. With the deal starting in 2023-24, Dobes was able to sign an ATO agreement with the Rocket, allowing him to finish the season there. Had he done like Farrell and signed a deal that began right away, that option wouldn’t have been there.
With Cayden Primeau becoming waiver-eligible next season, there’s a definite pathway to playing time for Dobes. If the Habs don’t want to run the risk of running him through waivers, Dobes could conceivably get a heavy workload fairly quickly once again. It’s fair to say that the Canadiens could still benefit from adding a prominent goalie prospect but in Dobes, they have themselves a quality one.
Dobes’ Stats: