Jakub Dobes in the NHL: the Canadiens must learn from the mistakes of the Cayden Primeau case

It’s done: the Canadiens have changed their second goaltender.

It seems that before the start of the season, we were so focused on issues like Lane Hutson’s, Logan Mailloux’s, Oliver Kapanen’s, or Emil Heineman’s places in the lineup that we weren’t talking about the goaltenders.

We thought Cayden Primeau would back up Samuel Montembeault and that Jakub Dobes would pair with Connor Hughes in Laval. And that’s exactly what happened for a few months.

But clearly, the Canadiens gradually lost confidence in Primeau, to the point where Samuel Montembeault started 10 consecutive games in December. The message towards the American was clear.

Recently, the Canadiens took advantage of Dobes’s return to health to do what they perhaps wanted to do for a while: test him in the NHL alongside Montembeault, himself a product of waivers.

By placing Primeau on waivers (which Kent Hughes had refused to do since the fall of 2023) recently, he changed the dynamics of his goaltenders. For now, Dobes is the #2 goalie in Montreal, and Primeau is back down.

The latter is far from his strong finish to the season in Montreal in 2023-2024.

CAYDEN PRIMEAU, HOW DO YOU DO?! pic.twitter.com/Hl65p8IZFi

— NHL (@NHL) March 25, 2024

But the question is: will the Canadiens only use Montembeault and Dobes in net until the end of the season? In my view, it’s an unlikely scenario.

Obviously, if Dobes continues to earn his spot in the sun, he will stay. But just because he’s there right now doesn’t mean it will definitely continue like this until April. He needs to understand that he doesn’t need to be placed on waivers to join the Rocket.

Primeau, if he plays well down there, can try to force the hands of the Canadiens’ management.

But above all, Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton, Martin St-Louis, Éric Raymond, and the Rocket staff must ask themselves the following question: what is best for Dobes’s development?

You know as well as I do that a goaltender takes time to develop. And you also know as well as I do that it was by having Primeau warm the bench for the CH a few years ago that his development went off the rails.

Does the CH want that for Dobes? No, obviously.

If Dobes doesn’t get enough playing time up top and Primeau regains confidence, the CH will reassess the possibility of changing goaltenders again as things progress.

And this is true even if Carey Price likes Dobes’s work.

Congrats Jakub. Makes me happy to see a moment like that.

— Carey Price (@CP0031) December 29, 2024

However, we must not forget that the CH is better than before. If the goal is really to be in the playoff race, Samuel Montembeault will play a lot, but the team will also, from time to time, need to win its games with its backup. And if Dobes contributes more…

That’s part of the equation.

Overtime

Obviously, there are several factors to consider. But for Primeau and Dobes, the situation is simple: they do not control their playing time or where they play.

They only control how they behave and their performances when the CH or the Rocket calls upon them.