Jakub Dobes was the backbone and arguably the MVP of the Montreal Canadiens’ run to the Eastern Conference Final.
Despite his team not having its best game on many nights, Dobes almost always stood tall and gave them a chance to win, and his fiery, emotional play made him a fan favorite throughout. Given all of that, there’s no way they would possibly think about trading him… or could they?
According to Adam Gretz, it can’t be ruled out, especially if it were to land a star second-line center in Nico Hischier, as he proposed in a recent article for Bleacher Report.
“Trading Dobes might seem like a wild suggestion given the playoff run he just had, but for as good as he has been, the Canadiens have another young goalie with even more potential upside in Jacob Fowler. Are the Canadiens ready to make Fowler their top goalie? Is he ready for that? That would be the big question, and in an ideal world, the Canadiens would go into next season with both Dobes and Fowler sharing the crease. But if moving Dobes could get a player like Hischier, it might be a move worth making,”
The 25-year-old Dobes is set to be a pending RFA heading into the second and final year of the two-year, $1.93 million contract he signed with the Canadiens in July. He went 9-10-0 this postseason while sporting a 2.66 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage along the way.
Trading Dobes after this recent run may not go over well in Montreal, but Gretz makes a good point that with Fowler waiting in the wings, they could be in a position to use the former as a valuable trade asset. If it were to bring in a player the caliber of Hischier, then it’s absolutely something GM Kent Hughes and company have to explore.
That said, they also shouldn’t feel any pressure to push one of their goalies out the door. Having two good options in tandem has never been more important in the NHL than it is today.
Next: Trade Rumors Squashed: “Connor McDavid Was Not at the Grand Prix in Montreal”
