Dobes Lands on the NHL Network List. The Backup Problem Hasn't Moved.

Jakub Dobes made the NHL Network's top 10 goaltenders list this week, a legitimate piece of recognition after a strong rookie season that earned him the full-time job in Montreal. The organization has been building around him with confidence, and an external ranking like this confirms they weren't wrong to do so.

The problem is what sits behind him. The depth chart at goaltender shows Dobes at the top — and nobody else with meaningful playing time. That's been the case all offseason. Montreal has been active everywhere else: forwards added, defensive depth addressed with Maksymilian Szuber's signing earlier this month, the Bolduc situation still grinding toward some kind of resolution. Goaltending depth hasn't moved.

My read is that this is the one area where the front office is either very comfortable with a thin margin or is still working something that hasn't surfaced publicly. Training camp is close enough now that if a credible backup isn't in place when it opens, that's a real operational gap — not a catastrophe, but the kind of thing that becomes a problem the first time Dobes misses a week.

The ranking is good news. It just doesn't solve the roster question sitting underneath it.