Contrary to a report late last week, the Islanders are not actively making defenseman Noah Dobson available for trade, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.
I don’t think he’s generally been out there. There’s too many teams that hadn’t heard it, so I’ll say this. If Dobson was discussed, he was discussed in a specific case or two or however many it was. There was one specific team or one specific player that the Islanders were looking at, and if they had gone down the road on that trade, then Dobson might have been included. I think that’s the fairest way to look at all of this.
Most would suppose the Canucks were the club Friedman’s referring to – including Friedman, who said Vancouver would be “very logical” but couldn’t report with certainty. He assumedly would have been part of the return for Elias Pettersson should a trade have crossed the finish line. Stefen Rosner of NHL.com and The Hockey News reported multiple times over the past few months, including as recently as last week, that the Isles have maintained interest in Pettersson since his name re-emerged in trade rumors earlier this season.
While it’s feasible the Islanders could offer up Dobson again as part of a return for a similarly valued asset, Friedman makes it clear they won’t be selling the 25-year-old as the centerpiece of a deal for futures. The 6’4″ righty is one year removed from a 60-assist, 70-point campaign that earned him an eighth-place finish in Norris Trophy voting. He hasn’t been as dominant offensively this season, mainly due to the club’s power play woes, but his 0.52 points per game still lead the Isles’ blue line, and his 143 shots on goal rank fourth on the team.
Of course, his season came to a halt nearly three weeks ago when he fell awkwardly on his right leg while attempting a check, landing him on long-term injured reserve. He’s listed as week-to-week and didn’t require surgery, and Newsday’s Andrew Gross reported at the beginning of the month that he’s expected to return to the ice during the 4 Nations break. There’s a chance he gets back into game action before the trade deadline as the Islanders, also hamstrung by injuries to Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock, among others, enter the break only four points back of a playoff spot.
The Islanders picked up a trio of puck-movers to help them out in Dobson’s and Pulock’s absences, but none of Adam Boqvist, Tony DeAngelo or Scott Perunovich are signed past this season. Neither is Dobson, a pending restricted free agent set to at least double his current $4MM AAV. The Isles have nearly $29MM in cap space for 2025-26 but also need new deals for notable RFAs Alexander Romanov and Maxim Tsyplakov as they continue extension talks with Brock Nelson.
Yet Dobson is the youngest and most established top-four player out of any of those names. He’s sticking around for the long haul unless, as mentioned, he’s leveraged for an elite forward who can jumpstart an Islanders’ offense that’s ranked in the bottom ten every season since 2017-18.
When your GM is 82 years old, There will be a certain amount of communication confusion, Also, Socalled insiders always remind us of when they are correct, And never admit to being wrong, Which is most of the time.
Wait the Maple leafs are not in on him. Wow that’s a first. It would be one of Lous mistakes if he did trade him.
Grandpa Lou has been here since 2018 and this team has not improved one bit. He’s drafted two players that are on this current roster. Dobson and Isaiah George who was only recently sent back down. Everyone else but Horvat, Palmieri, Pageau , Romanov,and Engvall were drafted by Snow. The remaining minor leaguers he signed to play at the NHL level should be back in Bridgeport. Five current players have contracts that run into the next decade. This team is screaming for a rebuild but in his stubbornness mind he thinks this team can still compete. Unless someone else with the ability to think without having to take a nap first comes here and realizes the party is over he’s going to continually handcuff this team. They’ll miss the playoffs again, get a middle of the pack draft pick and spin their wheels again.
Yea, I haven’t seen direction for this team for years except he’s expecting the team to be the Martin Brodeur years where they score 1-3 goals and win. There’s so little offensive talent.
We are ignoring Holmström, Tsyplakov and Duclair I suppose.
Three team trade involving Rantanen. Dobson and Nelson to the Canes.