Player Discussion: Noah Dobson

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Just took a quick look at some of the pages in that thread, got to love Leafs fans and their fancy stats, lol. Spreadsheets!!!
Hopefully they, and their GM, never change. It must be frustrating for the Leafs fans who don't buy into what Dubas is selling. I can't even imagine what it must be like to have an incompetent GM like that! :rolleyes:

Back OT: Dobson let that 1 guy skate out of the corner on him, but otherwise he was incredibly poised and played great. That bodes very well for next year. Hopefully not getting too far ahead of myself, but it's possible that in a couple of years our 3 best players will be Barzal, Dobson and Sorokin, so the future is bright.
 
I was impressed with Dobsons performance last night. A couple of hiccups early but overall he seemed poised and didnt panic, and wasnt afraid to shoot. Definitely good experience for the future.
 
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What we saw with Dobson last night is why some of us wanted to see more of him. He has a unique offensive instinct that we lack on the back line. You don't win back to back Memorial Cups with different teams as the dominant player without a heck of a hockey IQ and he showed some of that last night. Confident zone exits, intelligent dump ins and knows when to jump up on attack. The only mistake I saw was the failed keep-in that got turned around on him for the 2 on 1 but every defenseman will have that happen.

He's going to be our #1 RD within 2 more years and it won't even be a discussion point. And his poise last night was terrific once he got his first 2 shifts under his belt.

We've got a stud.

Couldn't agree more with you. He also showed an ability to escape/skate with the puck in our own end. I understand why Trotz didn't put him in sooner, but boy I would've liked to have seen more of him because I think he would've been a tremendous help back there.

I envision him as Toews or Leddy's replacement. Which pair he starts next season on is open for discussion, but I think he's ready for 18 minutes a game now. The poise he showed will only grow.

I think he looks better with more time. When he was getting sheltered minutes earlier in the season he was less comfortable. He seems to want the minutes and I like that.
 
Couldn't agree more with you. He also showed an ability to escape/skate with the puck in our own end. I understand why Trotz didn't put him in sooner, but boy I would've liked to have seen more of him because I think he would've been a tremendous help back there.

That's a very important skill in lacrosse too, I wonder if he played some . . .
 
That's a very important skill in lacrosse too, I wonder if he played some . . .

I think it's an area some other defenders struggle with, specifically Mayfield. He's always in a rush and doesn't recognize how much time and space he has. Dobson was very poised and would take the ice he was given. I love that about his game once he gets comfortable.
 
I think with Dobson he has a good body frame to build on, once he gains even more strength, he will be solid on D. Experience and physical strength are the things that will take him to that next level to be close to a #1 D. He can rush end to end and score some beautiful goals too but will probably not do that much playing in a Trotz conservative d system.
 
I think with Dobson he has a good body frame to build on, once he gains even more strength, he will be solid on D. Experience and physical strength are the things that will take him to that next level to be close to a #1 D. He can rush end to end and score some beautiful goals too but will probably not do that much playing in a Trotz conservative d system but he will probably do that in OT (3 on3) and shootout.
 
Looking forward to seeing if Dobson at 21 is considered ready for a full time work load in the Trotz system next season. I think he managed his first taste of the NHL and playoffs very well and kudos to Lou for bringing him along slowly. Will he make that transition to top 4 role by the end of 2021 or will it take longer?
 
Looking forward to seeing if Dobson at 21 is considered ready for a full time work load in the Trotz system next season. I think he managed his first taste of the NHL and playoffs very well and kudos to Lou for bringing him along slowly. Will he make that transition to top 4 role by the end of 2021 or will it take longer?

Maybe I’m being a homer or optimistic or a bit of both, but I imagine he’s the team’s 2nd best RHD by the end of next season.

As much as love Boychuk’s heart, he is on the wrong side of 35 and every time the puck was on Mayfield’s stick these past playoffs I clenched my teeth.
 
Looking forward to seeing if Dobson at 21 is considered ready for a full time work load in the Trotz system next season. I think he managed his first taste of the NHL and playoffs very well and kudos to Lou for bringing him along slowly. Will he make that transition to top 4 role by the end of 2021 or will it take longer?
i was very impressed with the kid, and figure that he will be getting close to 20 minutes a night. even in the PO's. :thumbu:
 
I do not want to sound too hyperbolic here on the 12 mins he played in his one playoff game, but it was truly an eye opener. To step in, after COVID, and to be in an elimination game with rust against the Cup champs, and not look out of place, but good. Tells me all I need to know, Dobson is ready. He should be getting top 4 mins this season. I think he can be potentially as good as Seth Jones. Isles are really lucky to have had him fall to 11-12. I often joke the Isles got that pick wrong, he should have went #11, but I guess there was a reason they took him at #12. Didn't matter, they still got him.
 
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I picture our defensive pairings next year being

Pelech-Pulock
Toews-Dobson
Leddy/Mayfield/Boychuk/Aho/maybe green resigns for a year?

I def. believe that 1 of Boychuk or Leddy is being moved for money purposes but I'll be honest, it was nice this past playoff to have replacements after injuries and in my eyes we were probably BETTER after the Boychuk injury (love Johnny though). Anyway you gotta give Dobson the minutes to sink or swim IMO but have a plan if we have to move him down to 10-12 minutes a game again this year.
 
I do not want to sound too hyperbolic here on the 12 mins he played in his one playoff game, but it was truly an eye opener. To step in, after COVID, and to be in an elimination game with rust against the Cup champs, and not look out of place, but good. Tells me all I need to know, Dobson is ready. He should be getting top 4 mins this season. I think he can be potentially as good as Seth Jones. Isles are really lucky to have had him fall to 11-12. I often joke the Isles got that pick wrong, he should have went #11, but I guess there was a reason they took him at #12. Didn't matter, they still got him.

Both Boucher and Emrick mentioned Dobson in a positive light several times during the game. They clearly saw what we saw in the kid. I am quite confident that he's ready to go with a regular roster spot next season.

Dobson turns 21 in early January and his man strength should start to kick in soon. Start him out as #3RD and #2PP, I think he'll be playing top-4 minutes and #1PP by the end of the season. The Dobson era starts in 2021.
 
With the team choosing to move on from Toews and Lou's comments regarding Dobson, what is the over all expectation of Noah next year? Best case/worst case and most reasonable expectations? If Andy Greene doesn't return, or even if he does, who's the best partner for Noah? Does he push 20:00 min of ice time a night? Do we want him playing the right side or left side?

I know Pulock's RFA contract and arbitration hearing has yet to be settled, but given the signed roster plus Pulock, who will return, is there a chance that the team defense with Noah playing a more prominent role, improves?

I tend to prefer to give open ended questions as opposed to giving my own opinions because I know I'm not as informed as some posters here. But I'll (for me at least) stick my neck out a little and try to answer some of my own questions.

I know that skill sets often times play into the decisions made on ice. While pairing Noah with either JB or AG is probably the most likely scenario, finding time to pair him with Leddy in addition is not such a bad idea, IMO. I believe that Noah is the most capable defender of serving in a hybrid role for the team, and I don't think it will effect his development negatively. I am okay with flipping him from the R to L side on Defense for now. I trust in the kid's mental and physical ability, along with his maturity (and granted, this is off of a limited exposure from an outside view) to be something of a Swiss army knife in Trotz's system. Maybe I'm asking too much of the kid? My excitement might tend towards an idealization of what he can do at this stage. I openly admit that. I can trend toward optimism over either negatively or realism.

With our power play having been such an issue for a couple of years now, while I believe he should start on the second PP unit, if they begin to find success, while the first PP unit continues to falter, I could see dabbling with him on the top PP unit even. Barry needs to find solutions to the area of Special Teams that could be the difference in the Islanders taking the next step. I think it's okay to try Noah in these roles because any failure would likely fall more on the "team" than on Noah individually, especially given our past struggles to make our PP an asset. I do not think Noah is fragile as far as his confidence.

I'd like to see him average around 18 minutes a night. Anything above that would mean he's excelling and forcing the issue to give him more ice time... or that we have some serious injury issues, IMO. I only err below 20 minutes because of the traditional developmental timelines for defenders (as opposed to forwards), along with the fact that we have a very capable top 4 in place. It's not unrealistic for a young defender a la Dobson to get 20 minutes a night. I'm just trying to take into account the way Trotz uses his D-lines along with Noah's youth and the relative abilities/trust Barry has, in the rest of our defense.

Points and offensive production is always an uncomfortable area to project. Especially in a Barry Trotz system. I think Noah shows enough potential to push 30 points next year. I don't see him as a goal scorer yet, even though he has the physical tools to succeed there. His skating, instincts and ability to see the ice leads me to believe he can come close to matching Toews offensive production from last year. Obviously, I'm basing that more on projection and optimism than on evidence right now.

Given team health, I think that in spite of the loss of Toews and unresolved cases of Greene and Boychuck, we are still even to slightly improved on defense with Noah playing a full time role. Offensive production is a bit more tenuous and cloudy. Other thoughts, projections, expectations are definitely welcome.
 
Watching him live I'm not sure if Dobson is quite ready for a major role at the NHL level. He's a pretty raw player. Good speed and size but I don't see him as a physical presence or offensive dynamo.
I was a lot more impressed with Wahlstroms skill set.
 
I do not want to sound too hyperbolic here on the 12 mins he played in his one playoff game, but it was truly an eye opener. To step in, after COVID, and to be in an elimination game with rust against the Cup champs, and not look out of place, but good. Tells me all I need to know, Dobson is ready. He should be getting top 4 mins this season. I think he can be potentially as good as Seth Jones. Isles are really lucky to have had him fall to 11-12. I often joke the Isles got that pick wrong, he should have went #11, but I guess there was a reason they took him at #12. Didn't matter, they still got him.
Seth Jones? Wow that's being pretty optimistic.
 
Seth Jones? Wow that's being pretty optimistic.
Why do you think he cannot? It did take his 5th nhl season for Jones to become the D he is now. Dobson is going into year 2. He has the same tools that Jones has once he puts on some muscle. This is the only area that he needs to improve, The experience of playing will only improve him. Let's see where is in 4 years, though I am expecting him to pick up the game quicker than that.
 
Watching him live I'm not sure if Dobson is quite ready for a major role at the NHL level. He's a pretty raw player. Good speed and size but I don't see him as a physical presence or offensive dynamo.
I was a lot more impressed with Wahlstroms skill set.

A rookie is a raw player? You don't say.

He was pretty damn good this year and played well in his limited playoff minutes. The best thing about him is that he got better when he was given more time and opportunity.
 
A rookie is a raw player? You don't say.

He was pretty damn good this year and played well in his limited playoff minutes. The best thing about him is that he got better when he was given more time and opportunity.
the ONLY thing that i question, is his physicality. he doesn't seem like the kind of dude that is gnarly, but i could be wrong.

his skating, positioning, hockey sense, are all very good, IMO.

if i had to make a comparison, i would say... Shattenkirk.

stylistically, of course. we have no idea of how successful he will be, so please, Captain Ovulator... don't accuse me of calling him a God, lol.

j/k... :)
 
the ONLY thing that i question, is his physicality. he doesn't seem like the kind of dude that is gnarly, but i could be wrong.

his skating, positioning, hockey sense, are all very good, IMO.

if i had to make a comparison, i would say... Shattenkirk.

stylistically, of course. we have no idea of how successful he will be, so please, Captain Ovulator... don't accuse me of calling him a God, lol.

j/k... :)

He doesn't seem to have snarl, but that's alright. I don't think every defender needs to have that.
 

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