When Kent Hughes acquired Noah Dobson last offseason, he didn't just acquire a right-shot defenseman; he acquired a very established and dominant right-shot defenseman, as evidenced by a graphic published by the NHL.
The NHL released an interesting graphic on Wednesday; it shows which player has dominated the league in goal scoring from all areas of the ice. One Montreal Canadiens player made the cut: right-shot defenseman Noah Dobson. He is the top goal scorer in the league from the right side of the blueline for the last five years. Of course, he spent most of those years with the New York Islanders, but his impact was immediately felt in Montreal when he arrived. It’s stats like these that make it abundantly clear why Kent Hughes was willing to trade two first-round picks and Emil Heineman to land him.
Photo credit: NHL X accountOver those five years, Dobson has scored 15 goals from the right side of the blueline. Last season, the 6-foot-4 defenseman scored 12 goals for the Canadiens, but a lot of those were scored skating in towards the net. As for the other two areas of the blueline, Cale Makar has scored the most goals from the middle with 31, while Quinn Hughes has scored the most from the left side with just 11.
It’s interesting to see the other names on the graphic. Zach Hyman dominates goals from the crease with 33. Alex DeBrincat is the highest scorer from in close of the net on the left side with 24 goals, a spot where we may very well see Cole Caufield in the future, Brayden Point has the most goals from the slot with 117, and Leon Draisaitl dominates for goals in close to the net on the right with 33 goals.
From a bit further out and by the boards on the right is David Pastrnak’s territory; he has 21 goals from there in the last five years. Unsurprisingly, Alex Ovechkin rules the roost from the left faceoff dot with 51 goals, while the high slot is dominated by Jordan Kyrou, a player who’s often rumoured to be on the market, with 42 goals. Nikita Kucherov dominates the left faceoff dot with 33 goals, while Draisaitl also dominates the right from further out and near the boards.
Dobson really is in good company, but in the years to come, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Caufield join him and perhaps even Ivan Demidov if he develops more of a goal-scoring instinct rather than passing the puck so often. Rookies often defer to more experienced players, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see him increase his shooting number, just like Lane Hutson did last season. The defenseman went from six goals to 12 goals in the space of a single season, but it’s unlikely he’ll find himself in that graphic one day; he’s much more of a playmaker than a scorer. So is Demidov; but 19 goals in his rookie season is a big number, and there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
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