For most of the season, it has felt like a foregone conclusion that Matthew Schaefer would win the Calder Trophy, which goes to the top rookie in the NHL. However, Jakub Dobes is making a strong argument to be the winner of the trophy with how he has been playing as of late.
Schaefer, who was the first overall pick this past June in the 2025 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders, has certainly lived up to the hype. He is tied for the league lead in goals among rookies at 23 and third in assists with 36 and an impressive +16. Schaefer is doing all this as an 18-year-old defenseman.
He is a big reason why the New York Islanders are in playoff contention and only one point back of the Philadelphia Flyers for third in the Metro Division. However, there is a case to be made that Jakub Dobes has the better resume and has been a much bigger reason for the Montreal Canadiens' recent success.
Can Jakub Dobes be the second-straight Montreal Canadiens player to win the Calder Trophy?
Last season, Lane Hutson was the runaway winner for the Calder Trophy and was able to beat out goalie Dustin Wolf. It has been tough for goalies to win this award, and the last one to do it was Steve Mason in 2009 with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Dobes got off to a shaky start to the season, and when looking at his season stats, he doesn't have the same resume as Wolf in his rookie season. With three games left in the regular season, Dobes has started 40 games with a 29-8-4 record, a save percentage of .904, and a goals against average of 2.69.
However, over the past few weeks, Dobes has been almost unbeatable and has helped power the Montreal Canadiens to near the top of the Atlantic Division. Over the past 10 starts, Dobes has an 8-2 record, won his last seven starts, and has a goals against average of 1.87 and a save percentage of .938. He had one of his best performances of the season on Thursday night when he held the Tampa Bay Lightning to only one goal to help Montreal win 2-1.
It has been a while since a goalie has won the Calder Trophy, and it has probably been even longer since the NHL has seen a player like Schaefer come along and play as well as he has at his age. Jakub Dobes has plenty working against him, but he has shown more than enough to make it at least a discussion of who should win the trophy at the end of the season.