Noah Dobson Turned Into An Elite Defenseman Overnight
Noah Dobson is making me feel like Jekyll and Hyde. My last post about him was incredibly critical amid his and the Islanders’ poor start to the season. However, I am prepared to do a complete 180 and say he is an elite defenseman. He was even named the NHL’s third star of the week!
Somehow, the Isles have clawed their way into third in the Metro (at the time of writing), and Dobson is a major part of why. He currently has five goals and 27 assists on the season, good for an impressive 32 points in 30 games. That total puts him tied with Evan Bouchard as the third-highest-scoring defenseman in the NHL. Furthermore, those 27 assists have him in the top 10 among all players! For my fantasy hockey people out there, he’s currently ESPN’s No. 1 ranked defenseman in fantasy!
We do have a star on our hands-on Long Island. The whole team has seemingly switched out former coach Barry Trotz’s defensive structure for offensive firepower. They currently have the 7th ranked powerplay in the league at 25.3 percent, and Dobson is the quarterback for an elite unit that also contains fellow point-per-gamers Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat.
However, you can’t understate his defensive improvements. The 23-year-old has blossomed into a much more stable player in his own end, with the mistakes trending in the right direction. Look no further than the plays he makes on both ends for Barzal’s OT winner in Carolina last month:
? MAT BARZAL CALLS GAME ?
— NHL (@NHL) December 1, 2023
The @NYIslanders bag the extra point in Carolina with an @Energizer OT winner! pic.twitter.com/SvzoGOSAIq
Crunch The Numbers:
Point totals are not the only impressive part of Dobson’s game. He has a +17 rating on the season and averages a whopping 25:33 TOI per game, which is third among all defensemen. You cannot see these numbers and say he has not improved.
Per NHL EDGE, Dobson ranks in the 97th percentile of players in terms of total skating distance and in the 88th percentile for shots on goal. He is now not only a minute-muncher but someone who also moves the puck and creates offense for his team. Right-handed defensemen, especially high-skilled ones, do not grow on trees.
It was around two short months ago when I said the Isles should trade Dobson. Let’s change my tune a little bit. When his bridge deal expires in 2025, Lou Lamoriello should pay him what he deserves, which would likely put him in line with Adam Fox and Cale Makar as one of the highest-paid defensemen in the league. He’s gone from an afterthought to a cornerstone player, who in my opinion beats Barzal out as the best player on the Islanders.
Noah Dobson has gone from zero to hero in a matter of months. Look no further than the correlation between his play improving and the New York Islanders picking up points.
