HabsWorld.net --
For the second straight day, the Habs have signed someone to a contract extension. This time, it’s goaltender Jakub Dobes, who inked a new three-year deal starting in the 2027-28 season. The deal carries a cap hit of $5,357,575, representing a massive increase on the $965,000 AAV of his current deal.
Last season was a breakout one for the 25-year-old, particularly in the second half. After he and Samuel Montembeault scuffled through the first half of the season, Dobes took off when Marco Marciano took over as goalie coach near the end of January.
From there, Dobes took over as Montreal’s clear-cut starter. Following the change, he posted a 2.54 GAA and a .915 SV%, one that was well above league average. That carried over to the playoffs where he was one of the Habs’ best players in the opening two rounds, helping them get past Tampa Bay and Buffalo before falling to Carolina. Overall, he had a 2.66 GAA and a .908 SV% in 19 postseason starts.
It’s clear that management is a believer in Dobes being able to repeat that performance moving forward as otherwise, they’d have been better off waiting to do this deal with the possibility of it costing less later on. However, if Dobes has a repeat performance in 2026-27, the price tag only would have went higher, especially with arbitration rights.
An AAV in the $5 million range for a starter without too much of an established track record at the time it was signed has become somewhat normal now. Karel Vejmelka ($4.75 million), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen ($4.75 million), and Joey Daccord ($5 million) all signed before the big jump in the salary cap while Dan Vladar’s $5.5 million per year extension was signed on Wednesday. That feels about the right range for Dobes, who will be the 20th-highest-paid goalie for the 2027-28 season as things stand.
This contract buys out two years of UFA eligibility plus his final RFA year, one that would have carried arbitration rights. It’s a well-earned raise for Dobes while the shorter term allows him and the Habs to potentially pivot if Jacob Fowler ultimately takes over the number one role at some point during this contract.
