At the start of the week, on 98.5 Sports, former Montreal Canadiens Goalie coach Stéphane Waite suggested it would do no harm if goaltender Jakub Dobes was sent back to the Laval Rocket.
He’s waiver-exempt, so assigning him to the Rocket wouldn’t mean risking losing him, but I disagree that it wouldn’t cause any harm. I understand that Dobes doesn’t have the “goalie of the future” label that Jacob Fowler has, but that doesn’t mean he should pay for Samuel Montembeault’s current issues.
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If you recall, Dobes had a great start to the season and was even in the Calder Trophy conversation very early. But then, despite Montembeault’s poor form, he continued to get the better of Dobes, who, based on his performances, would have deserved to be in net. It was only after Martin St-Louis continued to return to starting despite his struggles that Dobes appeared rattled.
Sending him to Laval would shake him up again. He doesn’t deserve to go down to the AHL. He didn’t have the same problems as Montembeault and, therefore, he shouldn’t fall. Doing that would only do one thing: shake him once more and fuck his head off.
Montembeault’s situation is delicate, that’s undeniable, but the NHL is all about results. If the goalie can’t handle the internal competition, he won’t last long in the league. Granted, a trio of goalies is far from ideal, especially when two of them are rookies who need to play. But to me, Fowler is the one who should go down if the Canadiens feel someone should.
Giving up on Montembeault would mean losing him. Struggles or not, a team would pick him up, hoping a fresh start would sort him out. According to Pierre LeBrun, the general managers call Marc-André Fleury to ask him if he would consider coming out of retirement; this shows how thin the goalie market is.
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As good as Fowler has been so far, he’s still a little green; This is his first professional season. The 21-year-old needs a lot of ice time and there is no point in rushing him. Regardless of his performance, the Canadiens will not win the Stanley Cup this season. Letting him mature in the AHL only makes sense.
Finish the season with two goalies, and if Montembeault can’t find his game, consider moving on from him this summer. This would pave the way for Fowler to see enough action in the NHL. But for now, let’s leave Dobes alone; he shouldn’t have to foot the bill, so to speak.
Follow Karine on @KarineHains Blue sky @karinehains.bsky.social and son @karinehains.
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