During this past off-season, the Montreal Canadiens acquired Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders in exchange for forward Emil Heineman, the No. 16 overall pick of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft (Viktor Eklund), and the No. 17 overall pick of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft (Kashawn Aitcheson). This was one of the biggest trades of the off-season and naturally created plenty of chatter in the hockey world. With the Canadiens needing a star right-shot defenseman on their blueline, it made sense that they brought in Dobson this past summer. Now, as we enter the final stretch of the 2025-26 season, it is clear that the Habs made the right call acquiring him. Dobson has come as advertised with the Canadiens, and the truth can be seen with his stats this campaign. In 57 games this season with the Original Six club, the 6-foot-4 defenseman has recorded 10 goals, 28 assists, 38 points, and a plus-12 rating. With numbers like these, there is no question that he has been providing some solid offense from the Canadiens' blueline. Dobson is also a defenseman whom the Canadiens rely on heavily as well. The 26-year-old blueliner not only plays on their top pairing, but also sees time on both their power play and penalty kill. With this, he is one of the Canadiens' most important players, which was expected. Dobson also still has plenty of time to build on his strong first season with the Canadiens. At this juncture of the campaign, the 2018 first-round pick has a real shot of breaking his current career-high of 13 goals, which he achieved during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons as a member of the Islanders. He also needs only two more points to pass his 39 points from last season, which he reached in 71 games. The Canadiens have taken another step in the right direction this season, and acquiring a star defenseman like Dobson has been a major reason for it. It will be fascinating to see how he builds on his strong first season with the Canadiens, but it is clear that the Habs made the right call bringing him in.
