There are moments in a young goalie’s rise when the narrative pauses, draws a breath, and quietly shifts from promise to inevitability. Montreal has felt that inhale lately—an unmistakable thrum around a name that, even six months ago, lived mostly on prospect lists and training camp whispers. The scene is familiar enough: a night in seattle, a puck hanging midair under the bright lights of climate pledge arena, a rookie’s eyes tracking the spin like he’s reading a secret only the puck knows. But what’s happening behind that snapshot is far stranger, and far more electrifying, than a tidy highlight line can capture.

You’ve heard the buzz. The numbers, the streak, the chatter from places that rarely gamble on rookies with such unguarded enthusiasm. And yet, the real story sits just beyond the box score—somewhere between how calm his game looks on television and how loud his candidacy sounds when the right people start naming the right lists. This isn’t a typical early-season glow-up or a market inflating its new toy. It’s something different, something that has coaches recalibrating, scouts leaning forward, and an entire fanbase wondering if the cycle they’ve been trained to endure—hope, setback, patience, repeat—has finally been disrupted by the most unforgiving position in hockey.

The headline version is easy: a 24-year-old, fifth-rounder, unexpectedly seizing a crease and reshaping expectations. But simplicity doesn’t explain why comparisons are suddenly, seriously, being made to players who’ve already done this at the highest level on the largest stage. It doesn’t explain why certain metrics matter more for him than they do for others—or why people you’d expect to hedge aren’t hedging at all. Somewhere inside six games, behind the tidy decimals and the symmetrical record, there’s a thread of something bigger. You can feel it in the way teammates talk about his poise, in the way opponents describe his angles, in the way the building exhales when a dangerous shot turns into nothing more than a dull thud against nylon and padding.

Is it too soon? Probably. Is that the point? Absolutely not. The point is why this feels different, why the conversation has jumped from “can he stick?” to a question no rookie is supposed to inspire this quickly, at least not without a detour through turbulence: where does he belong—right now, next month, and on a roster that might be assembled far from home, on a timeline that doesn’t care how many NHL miles are in his legs? The answers are not all obvious. Some are downright controversial. And one of them, if it holds, could change the way we talk about Montreal’s future, Czechia’s present, and the unforgiving calculus of picking three names to carry a nation’s ambition in the dead of winter. If you think you already know where this is going, you might want to look again. The signals don’t just suggest momentum; they hint at a decision coming faster—and clearer—than most are prepared to admit.

Oct 28, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) watches the airborne puck during the first period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Photo credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

We have good news for the young Montreal Canadiens goaltender, Jakub Dobes.

His chances of going to the 2026 Olympic Games look excellent – which is huge for any athlete!

According to reports from experts on the official National Hockey League website, Dobes is among the favorites to be selected as one of the three official goaltenders for Czechia in preparation for the Games.

“In their latest 2026 Team Czechia Olympic roster predictions, NHL dot com includes Jakub Dobes on the team.

Dobes is currently 6-0-0 with a 1.97 GAA and .930 sv%. He’s still a rookie.”

– HabsOnReddit

It’s so well deserved for young Dobes!

Jakub Dobes Under Consideration to Join the 2026 Olympic Games

The two other goaltenders listed here are Lukas Dostal of the Anaheim Ducks and Dan Vladar, goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Dostal, age 25, is a 6-foot-2, 190-pound goaltender who was a third-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2018.

In seven games this season, he has a record of 3-3-1, with a goals-against average of 2.84 and a save percentage of .906.

Vladar, age 28, is a 6-foot-5, 209-pound goaltender who was a third-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2015.

In six games this season, he has a record of 4-2-0, with a goals-against average of 1.67 and a save percentage of .939.

Finally, Dobes is, of course, a 24-year-old goaltender, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 215 pounds, who was a fifth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2020.

In six games this season, Dobes has claimed number one spot from Monty, and has a record of 6-0-0, with a goals-against average of 1.97 and a save percentage of .930.

Which one is the best, in your opinion?