If Jeff Gorton is anything to go by, Jakub Dobes has a job to lose

Dose
Crédit:

At the start of the off-season, in addition to a second center, it was known that the Canadiens were looking to acquire an auxiliary goaltender.

In the end, the Habs did just that, acquiring 28-year-old veteran Kaapo Kakhonen, who joins the Habs on a one-year contract worth $1.15 million.

It’s a fine acquisition, but we all immediately wondered what it meant for Jakub Dobes, who had established himself as Samuel Montembeault’s second-choice goaltender last season.

At first glance, listening to Kent Hughes on July 1ᵉʳ, we understood that Kakhonen was ahead of Dobes, and that he was the favorite to second Montembeault.

But finally, when we take a step back from the situation, and now listen to Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens’ VP of hockey operations, we realize that Kakhonen was signed to push Dobes to the back.

Indeed, reading between the lines of Gorton’s comments in an interview with RG Media, it’s clear that Jakub Dobes has a job to lose.

When you read Jeff Gorton’s various responses in the interview, it’s clear that the Habs, or at least Gorton, likes Dobes a lot, and more importantly, is very grateful for the work he did last season.

“I think Dobes showed us a lot. He gave us several big points at the end of the season, and he came to hold the fort in the playoffs as well as getting a win in difficult circumstances.” – Jeff Gorton

However, from what we can tell, the Habs don’t want to do Dobes any favors, handing him Samuel Montembeault’s auxiliary position outright as a thank-you for the job he did in relief of Cayden Primeau last season.

We want to see Dobes win the job, and establish himself as the best available option on the table for the Habs.

And that, in my opinion, is why we signed Kaapo Kakhonen.

Because without this signing, Dobes would have had the job by default, which might not have been ideal, and which might have ended badly, especially without an insurance policy behind it.

We wouldn’t have wanted to find ourselves in a situation where we had to recall Jacob Fowler because of an injury or Dobes’ poor performance.

The Habs are looking to make the playoffs again, so they won’t have time to fool around with an auxiliary who’s going to tear it up like Primeau did last season.

All points will be important, and with so many back-to-backs, the auxiliary goalie will be very important, especially if we really want to lighten Samuel Montembeault’s load.

In short, I’ve come to the conclusion that Kaapo Kakhonen will be there to put pressure on Jakub Dobes, and to push him to give his all to win a position at training camp, something he hasn’t done yet.

We’ll keep an eye on that, but we’d obviously like to see Dobes perform well.

And if he does at some point, the Habs will have Kakhonen in the bank to take over.

Overtime

– Read on.

– Pavel Datsyuk turns 47 today.

– Please note.

– A must-see for those interested.

– Understandable.