Canadiens' Jakub Dobes serves as painful reminder for Oilers' opposite decision

The Edmonton Oilers have a goalie nightmare to figure out.

The Montreal Canadiens once seemed to be in a similar spot, but they've somehow stumbled upon Jakub Dobes being a red-hot goalie, even in the playoffs.

Not long ago, the Habs and Oilers weren't in that different a spot.

Hockey writer David Staples pointed out on X that Dobes had a .910 save percentage in the AHL in 2024-25 when he was 23 years old.

Staples then notes that a 23-year old Oilers goalie prospect, Connor Ungar, had a .923 save percentage in the AHL this year.

But the Canadiens and Oilers operated differently from there.

Dobes came up to the NHL.

The Oilers actually sent Ungar down to the ECHL.

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The Oilers have tried all sorts of things to solve their goalie woes, including a midseason trade for Tristan Jarry.

And of course, not all goalie prospects are created equal. Maybe Ungar was correctly pushed away and wouldn't have succeeded in the NHL.

But at some point, a goalie simply has to stop the puck. The Canadiens have trusted Dobes to do that and he has delivered. Maybe there's a lesson for the Oilers in that.

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