The Montreal Canadiens made a huge splash in the 2025 offseason, acquiring defenceman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders. The Canadiens had needed a top-end right-shot defenceman ever since Shea Weber was forced into retirement due to a multitude of injuries. Dobson was coming off the worst season of his career, and with his contract set to expire, the Islanders decided it might be in their best interest to trade the defenceman. On June 27th 2025, the Islanders traded Dobson to the Canadiens, who immediately signed an eight-year, $76 million contract. Moving to a new team already brings a certain type of pressure, but joining one of the premier markets and coming off a bad season, Dobson came in with something to prove. In his first season in Montreal, Dobson proved he is still a top defenceman in the NHL, even if his season did not end how he would have wanted.
Successful first season in Montreal for Dobson
The Canadiens needed another defenceman who could eat big minutes. Lane Hutson burst onto the scene as a rookie, setting franchise records for rookie defencemen, but the team’s workhorse defenceman was Mike Matheson. Before Hutson’s emergence, the Canadiens depended on Matheson to play in all facets of the game. Even when Hutson took over the first power-play unit, Matheson was still asked to play 25+ minutes a night, which by the end of the season took a toll on the veteran defenceman’s performance. When the Canadiens traded two first-round picks and Emil Heineman to acquire Dobson, the idea was that the team was acquiring a first-pairing defenceman who could take some of the workload off Matheson. While Matheson still led the Canadiens in ice time per game, Dobson helped shave a minute off his time while also bouncing back from his subpar 2024-25 season.
In the 2023-24 season, Dobson emerged as a premier defenceman in the NHL. He scored 10 goals and added 60 assists while averaging 24:31 minutes a night. He looked like a strong candidate for Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster, but took a massive step back the next season. After a 70-point season, Dobson’s point total dropped to 39, leading to a disastrous season for the Islanders, who later secured the first overall pick. Now in Montreal, Dobson had something to prove, and he responded with a bounce-back season. He scored 12 goals while raising his point total to 47, despite rarely getting any looks on the team’s top power-play unit. He helped solidify the Canadiens' defence and was just as valuable on the defensive end as on the offensive side, leading the team with 188 blocked shots. Despite having a very solid first season in Montreal, the way it ended left fans wanting more.
Dobson still has something to prove in Montreal
Through no fault of his own, Dobson was not himself in the playoffs. With a couple of games left in the regular season, Dobson blocked a shot against the Columbus Blue Jackets, injuring his thumb. The injury would cost him the final two games of the season, making it unclear if he would be able to return in the playoffs. Dobson missed the first six games of the first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but returned for Game 7. He did not look like his usual self, but his play did not drop far enough to be a detriment to the Canadiens. It was clear that he was still dealing with the thumb injury and was limited, and that reflected in his offensive production. He had one point in 13 games, despite still playing his usual 22 minutes a game. The Canadiens were clearly outmatched in their series against the Carolina Hurricanes, but a fully fit Dobson could have made it a closer battle.
Dobson opened up about playing through the injury following the playoff exit. “I feel like when you get injured and you come back, there's always things you got to work through,” said Dobson. He confirmed that he underwent a procedure to clean up the injury, but it was clear that he was not fully comfortable with his thumb during the playoffs. Dobson was not just brought in to help the Canadiens in the regular season, but they need him to be a key contributor in the playoffs as well. He will be back next season fully fit, but the criticism now will not be “can Dobson perform in the regular season,” but will be whether his playoff struggles were truly because of the thumb injury.
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