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[Edmonton Oilers]

Sunday Scramble: Nečas collects the bag, Zegras gets his mojo back, and Dobeš is stealing the crease

The further we get from the Mikko Rantanen shenanigans for last year, the less I understand it.

This week, the Colorado Avalanche extended Martin Nečas — the prize for relinquishing Rantanen to Carolina — in a major way, eight years and $92 million ($11.5M annually).

The 26-year-old Nečas has been tremendous in an Avalanche sweater: 44 points in 42 games, after accomplishing a career high of 83 points last season.

“The fit has been really good,” general manager Chris MacFarland told reporters in Denver. “His speed, his skill, his talent blends in really well here, but it would blend in anywhere, to be honest. He’s a very good hockey player, and we’re lucky to have him.”

Celebrating in style, Nečas took just 30 seconds into Saturday’s game to pot his first goal post-contract.

Did Rantanen just get humbled in the negotiation? Overshoot his expected value on the market, ended up settling in Dallas (a $12 million with much more take-home pay), and that’s that?

Their divorce still surprises me all these months later. The Avalanche have a ton of committed money, and just one playoff round victory in the three seasons after their Stanley Cup.

If Rantanen was adamant at $14 million, the Avalanche maneuver makes a lot more sense, since Nečas is in the bottom end of that range and seems to be clicking.

It certainly makes for compelling Colorado vs Dallas games for the next decade.

What that saved money isn’t helping with so far is their second-line center problem that they’ve struggled to fill since Nazem Kadri left in free agency.

Brock Nelson is slowly getting his scoring grip to him (3G, 1A) with two goals in his last four games, but the $7.5 million man for the next three seasons has not been spectacular in filling this void. He’s also 34.

Look, the Avalanche are rolling with an Expected Goals Percentage tops in the league and are right near the top at Goal Differential, too. It’s not doom and gloom here. But Gabriel Landeskog is also not that guy anymore, either.

The Avs are cruising. Just one regulation loss in 13 games. They’ve got their man in Nečas, but I remain curious about the roster construction for when the games get bigger.

Zegras is giving Philly life​

I’m a full dynasty hockey draft with nine other guys, took managerial duties over for a franchise that needed a rebuild.

How the league works is that we have a salary cap, and your top 10 forwards, top 5 defencemen, and top goaltender count for points. The only scoring modifier is that defenceman goals are worth two points. Otherwise, you just tally up points. No starting lineups, no head-to-head matchups. Whoever has the most points at the end of the year wins.

I drafted Trevor Zegras sixth overall in our league years ago and refused obscene offers (as well as for Jamie Drysdale, Moritz Seider, and Lucas Raymond) in hopes of everyone clicking at the same time. It’s hard to make deals in this league. There are no waivers. The only way you can acquire players is via trade or the draft.

Long story short: this past trade deadline, I had to cut money to fit under the cap for the long-term and ended up trading Trevor Zegras for Elias Lindholm and Rutger McGroarty. How could I justify Zegras’ money in a fantasy league, never mind what the Anaheim Ducks were doing in their own actual-hockey books?

Fast forward a few months later and this guy is back. Zegras is friggin’ back, and I’m upset. I knew he needed a change of scenery. I knew there was still a player there.

It became fashionable to dump on Zegras — and certainly his cockiness required a real-world comeuppance that swiftly came. With that said, he also battled seasonal depression with the no-weather of Anaheim.

“The last thing I was thinking about was actually playing hockey at times. That was hard for me,” he said about his time with the Ducks.

Now, he leads the Philadelphia Flyers in scoring with 13 points, but more than that, he is embracing being a Flyer, which that franchise values above all else. A Flyers team, by the way, that has been alright so far, 6-3-1 heading into Saturday. (Tough one to Toronto).

Matvei Michkov, on the other hand…just one goal this season. Classic sophomore slump. Rick Tocchet also isn’t the fun and cuddly, let’s-play-offence-just-for-the-fun-of-it type of coach, either.

Penguins win October​

In the state of Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Penguins have reigned supreme for the share of 20 years. In the 2020s, it’s been a sad state of affairs.

Will Sidney Crosby be traded? Is this it for Evgeni Malkin?

Malkin has 18 points, tied for fourth best in the league, and Crosby has 16 points. Justin Brazeau with six goals and six assists. Erik Karlsson and Evan Bouchard seemed to body-switch again.

Not to start this season though, with the Pens off to an unexpectedly good start ___. I will say, watch out for their upcoming slate: Leafs, Capitals, Devils, Kings. Not the hardest, but not the easiest. I think the Penguins will come back down to earth.

The ever unknowable Tristan Jarry is rocking a .923 save percentage.

Yet I laugh. Is this ruining GM Kyle Dubas’ rebuild?

Dobeš stealing Montreal crease?​

In football, it’s a Quarterback Controversy. In hockey, we don’t get many Goaltending Controversies, but the Montreal Canadiens may have one on their hands.

Jakub Dobeš looks legit, and Sam Montembeault — who every Habs fan you know the past three years sang his good graces up and down — is struggling.

Dobeš is 6-0 with an all-world .930 save percentage. Montembeault got a much-needed win on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators, but only faced 17 shots, and the game went to the wire.

So who the hell is Jakub Dobeš?

Beyond the NHL’s third Star of the Month, the 24-year-old Czech tender was drafted in the fifth round back in 2020 out of the USHL.

He proved to be a strong netminder with the Ohio State University and made the jump to pro with the Laval Rocket in 2023-24 solid, but necessarily elite numbers.

Dobeš backed up Montembeault last year 16 times, with a winning record of 7-4-3 and a .909 save percentage.

All this information everyone can gather. Really, I still dunno where this talent came from and how he’s been so solid. Habs fans are in love with him, and a picture he took in the off-season promoting a mattress company is taking Reddit netizens to new heights.

Could Dobeš play more games than Montembeault this year? There are worse things to have than a goalie controversy when both are going. Right now, sneaky-not-young Montembeault (28) has had a bad month.

Rapidfire round​

• I mentioned this in light of my recent column on McDavid and Draisaitl’s ice time, that NHL teams are a little frustrated with the lack of practice time the schedule is afforded. Hey, Olympic year. We get it. But man, taking out two weeks from the schedule is leading teams to feel the pinch. For example, the Oilers play 14 times in November. Half the season will be over by Christmas.
• Attending the Oilers-Blackhawks game was bizarre: a group of sports fans largely agreeing they were at the wrong game. The scoreboard showed the Blue Jays game for stretches, going full screen during the intermissions. Americans are clowning on us for cheering when the World Series-winning run was running toward home and appeared to score, but then the ump called out. I’m only a casual baseball fan. It’s not something I follow to great length. But if I were a die-hard, I’d be sick to my stomach. Among the gutwrenching World Series losses, this isn’t quite Bill Buckner, but it’s in the ballpark.
• Best wishes to Chris Tanev after the scary situation in Philadelphia on Saturday night. Matvei Mickov seemed to accidentally-on-purpose collide with Tanev, but after more than one glance, it looks like a dirty hit. The 35-year-old needed to be stretchered off the ice. There’s no update as of writing (early, early Sunday morning). I don’t like this collision, though. Michkov knows Tanev is there; he’s front-facing, and it’s a blindside hit. I would consider a suspension. Certainly, the result is brutal.
• The St. Louis Blues have been dreadful. A playoff team a year ago, one many thought could even challenge for home ice in the first round. Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Columbus was their seventh in a row. The prime example of how it’s going was Brayden Schenn’s complete bobble in the third round of the shootout vs Vancouver on Thursday, which directly preceded Kiefer Sherwood winning the game moments later. The advanced metrics suggest they’ve been unlucky: fourth in expected goals, according to Moneypuck, eighth in Corsi percentage, seventh in expected goals…but the wins, the wins are eluding them. Sitting 31st in the NHL ain’t great. Maybe they can rekindle some 2019 magic.
• Don’t look now, but the Columbus Blue Jackets have won four games in a row, sit 7-4, and are throwing the Metro for a loop. Meanwhile, Carolina has the same record, has scored more goals, but can’t score on the power play. Below 10 per cent. At the NHL level, for a good team, I’ll suggest it’s an indictment on Rod Brind’Amour that with the talent at their disposal, they can’t figure this out. Hurricanes’ power-play woes are not a new issue.
• Gary Bettman must be cackling in a high-rise somewhere. The Eastern Conference is full of parity. The New York Islanders are last…at .500!
• You love hits. How about this one in the KHL this week from a…goalie?! Adam Huska, who started one game with the Rangers back in 21-22, lays the body on Ilya Safonov. Rock’em, sock’em baby.

Goalie Adam Huska lays big hit on Ilya Safonov#KHL pic.twitter.com/3mM5e4hoL4

— Jégkorongblog (@Jegkorong_blog) October 26, 2025

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/sunda...is-mojo-back-and-dobes-is-stealing-the-crease