Marc Dumont
The Montreal Canadiens made a significant trade to address a clear-cut weakness when they acquired defenceman Noah Dobson.
It was the type of deal that was lacking under the previous regime: a quick, efficient trade that improved the team while acquiring a marquee player who has the ability to move the needle.
In a sense, it’s the greatest difference between Kent Hughes and the former regime.
While there’s no doubt risk is a factor in trades, attempting to avoid risk at all costs is arguably the riskiest approach to running a professional sports franchise.
After all, if you want to take a ride on the riverboat, you have to go down to the river.
And good players are rarely found in the bargain bin.
By paying a pair of first-round picks, as well as forward Emil Heineman, the cost of acquisition may have been high, therefore, there was a high level of risk in play, but it also offered the Canadiens a great reward: a defenceman who can move the puck quickly, is a smooth skater, and can absorb important minutes, both at 5v5 and the powerplay.
Dobson would finish the season with 12 goals and 35 assists in 80 games, the second-highest scoring Canadiens defenceman behind phenom Lane Hutson (78 points).
And when we filter the results to 5v5, it’s important to note that he set a career high in goals (9), and was just one point shy of tying his record for points (35).
Dobson 5v5 Usage, Underlying Numbers
The blue line went through several different configurations, but for the most part, Dobson played with Hutson and Mike Matheson, with the latter serving as his most frequent defensive partner.
As we discussed in the Matheson profile, when the duo was tasked with facing the best forwards on the opposing team, they struggled. Such is life when you’re in a pairing that does not feature a defensive specialist.
When Dobson and Matheson are playing together, you can almost guarantee something exciting will occur, at either end of the ice.
But once Dobson played away from Matheson, his shot share, expected goals, and high-danger scoring chances increased considerably.
For example, while playing with Lane Hutson, Dobson controlled 56.6% of the shots at 5v5. It’s a clear-cut uptick from his 45.8% shot control with Matheson.
And the situation repeats itself regardless of the statistical category.
With Hutson, Dobson controlled an impressive amount of goals, to the tune of 26-10 (72.2%). Alongside Matheson that number dropped to 38-43 (46.9%).
As for the high-danger scoring chances, historically Montreal’s weakest statistic, Dobson produced excellent numbers with Hutson (52.9%), which normalized beside his most used defensive partner (41.4%).
This suggests that the best defensive partner for Dobson is probably Hutson, though that’s akin to saying humans tend to breathe better when there’s enough oxygen in the atmosphere.
Everyone plays better when Lane Hutson is on the ice.
Dobson Player Grade
One of the biggest sticking factors when evaluating Dobson’s impact on the Canadiens is his lack of production in the playoffs.
The talented defenceman played 13 games, and managed to register just one assist.
There are mitigating factors in play, but any way you cut it, that’s the epitome of an underwhelming result at crunch time. But once we balance his playoff results with a very solid regular season, you’d be hard-pressed to argue Dobson was anything but a positive element within the lineup.
There’s still room for improvement, but it’s fair to suggest that Dobson was an incredible upgrade on the blue line, which allowed the Canadiens to reach new highs in 2025-26.
Noah Dobson Grade: B+ (77-79%)
Montreal Canadiens and Noah Dobson statistics via Natural Stat Trick.
Previously published Canadiens player grades:
- Nick Suzuki
- Alexandre Texier
- Zachary Bolduc
- Alex Newhook
- Cole Caufield
- Kirby Dach
- Mike Matheson
- Juraj Slafkovsky
