NY Islanders Plus/Minus for 2023-24: Noah Dobson is critical to Isles' future
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The 2022-23 campaign was a tale of two seasons for NY Islanders' defenseman Noah Dobson. In the beginning, Dobson could not be stopped and showed signs of improving even further from his previous season's total of 13 goals and 51 points. As time passed, the former 2018 12th overall pick's weaknesses on the defensive end became more apparent while not providing as much offense as before, which went along with the Islanders going into a low-scoring slump.
Dobson ended his season somewhat strong putting up six assists in the team's last four games heading into the playoffs, finishing with 13 goals once again and scoring 49 points this time around. He followed that up with a two-assist performance in Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, but those would be his only points in the six games series.
Noah Dobson can be something special offensively. Looking forward to seeing him improve next season on both ends of the ice completing his game.
— Isles Den (@IslesDen) August 8, 2023
Dobber had 49 points last year. Some nice rips & beauty assists.
Here are his best moments so far on the Island⬇️.#Isles pic.twitter.com/oODBDM1NzN
It's no secret that the Islanders' power play struggled all season long, especially in the second half, without both Mat Barzal and Oliver Wahlstrom available due to injury. Dobson did not improve upon his previous season at commanding the first power play unit, and at times the Isles elected to put Sebastian Aho out there instead of him. Everything about the man advantage has to be fixed for the Isles, and Dobson should still be expected to be the power-play "quarterback" in the near and distant future.
PLUS
In the first three months of the season, the Prince Edward Island native scored ten goals and averaged about 21 minutes of ice time per night. He followed that up with only scoring three more times in the latter four months of the season while shortening his average TOI by almost two minutes. The goal-scoring ability is there, but Dobson needs to sharpen his consistency for this team that needs all the goals they can get.
On the offensive side, Dobson has flashed everything he is capable of being: an elite offensive defenseman. He adds speed to the backend that the Isles won't get from the more defensive-minded players. He has a powerful right-handed wrist shot and slap shot that he might need to use a little more, but he gives other teams fear at the top of the blue line. Scoring double-digit goals is hard for a defenseman to do, even for the higher-tier offensive D-Men, and for Dobson to crack 13 in the last two seasons at 22 and 23 years old is impressive. Plenty of Islanders forwards can't light the lamp that many times.
Dobson's ability to pass and fake the defender out in front of him while up a man is part of the reason why he is a smart power play QB. Capable of sliding a slick pass over to a player teeing up for a one-timer, say, Brock Nelson, Ryan Pulock, or Wahlstrom, is a good asset to have and should be planned on being utilized more. He has plenty of patience at the line as well, which you don't see from a guy like Aho. With two seasons under his belt at running the power play, hopefully, the unit as a whole can build around him next season.
MINUS
If you watched the tail end of the Isles' season, you know exactly where Dobson struggled: in his own end.
There were many times when he was beaten by an opposing forward while pinching in the offensive zone too far, leading to an odd-man rush the other way. Dobson also typically got out-muscled in front of the Isles' net or even in the corners. Getting bigger physically should be a goal for him during this off-season. He almost acted like a lost forward while in his own zone, which is not something that the coaching staff was probably happy with on a nightly basis.
He certainly was not consistent enough either to be able to classify this season as a step forward for him. In January, Dobson only registered three points, all assists, and only scoring three goals in the last four months was not good enough to string more wins along for the blue and orange.
Fans of any New York team usually have less patience than smaller market teams' fans, and plenty called for Dobson to be traded after noticing his defensive liabilities during the past season. It would not be wise at all, however, to trade away one of the few cheaper young players that the Isles have whose role is to be a scorer (think back to Devon Toews) and getting rid of him before he reaches his full potential as an elite offensive defenseman would only make fans curse themselves years after.