NY Islanders Plus/Minus for 2023-24: Noah Dobson is critical to Isles' future

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.

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.