The Jan. 9 game between the New York Islanders and the Vancouver Canucks showed the gap between a good team and a great one. The Islanders at 18-12-10 are putting together a respectable season and look poised to make the playoffs. They were no match for the Canucks, a team looking to win the Presidents’ Trophy with a 27-11-3 record, as they were trounced 5-2 on their home ice.
Related: Barzal Shooting More Helped Him Become Islanders’ All-Star
On the blue line, this gap was on full display. Noah Dobson is having a good season but isn’t worthy of an All-Star nod. In fact, according to the recent voting data, he isn’t on the list as one of the top 15 skaters worthy of a final spot, a surprise to Islanders fans but not to NHL fans at large.
Quinn Hughes was voted as the Canucks All-Star and on top of that, he is one of the favorites to win the Norris Trophy this season. The two defensemen showed how far Dobson still has to go to enter the Norris conversation and that top tier of the league’s elite defensemen.
Dobson Must Improve Defensively
The small details in Dobson’s defensive play add up and stand out compared to him and the league’s best. He’s having a great season with 3.2 defensive point shares, 89 blocked shots, and 30 hits, proving he’s improved as a defender and that shouldn’t be discredited. However, it’s when he’s compared to Hughes or Cale Makar that the difference is noticeable.
Hughes has clean zone exits that at times look effortless as they set up the Canucks offense. He doesn’t play the shooting lanes, with only 30 blocked shots but he limits angles to the net on the rush and turns defense into instant offense, a vital skill of a modern-day NHL defenseman. As a skater, he’s often able to recover from mistakes and is in the right position in the defensive zone. Dobson creates turnovers but sets up the offense with outlet passes while Hughes handles the puck out of the zone and leads the rush rather than just joining it.
Dobson has taken a lot of strides in recent seasons and is starting to enter the prime of his career. That said, he still has room to improve, and the minor details will go a long way in making him better on the defensive end of the ice.
Hughes Can Elevate A Good Offense
The Canucks are averaging 3.88 goals per game this season and one of the reasons for their success has been the production Hughes has provided from the point. He can find open skaters on the rush and near the net from the blue line, resulting in a 40-assist season. Likewise, he has a great shot from the point that opens up the offense. He has 11 goals halfway through the season which is the same as Mathew Barzal, who was selected as the Islanders’ All-Star.
Dobson doesn’t have the same blast from the point when it comes to his shot. He can get the puck on the net and wrist it through traffic but he can’t fire the puck past opposing goaltenders. He’s scored six goals this season and is on pace to surpass his career high of 13 goals, a mark he’s reached in each of the last two seasons. However, a lot of his goals are scored with shots that zip through traffic or find a corner of the net where the goaltender can’t make the save.
In addition, while Dobson is the best skater on the Islanders’ defensive unit, he won’t create offense the way Hughes or the other elite two-way defensemen do. Dobson will look to make a play immediately and rarely skates with the puck while many defensemen in the league will play like an extra forward when they have the puck in the offensive zone.
Dobson’s Being Overwhelmed by the Workload
To be fair to Dobson, he doesn’t have the same support system that Hughes has. The Canucks not only have a great roster from the top down, they have a significantly better defensive unit. Hughes particularly has Filip Hronek as his partner, another elite two-way defenseman who scored one of the goals in the 5-2 win over the Islanders. While Dobson has Alexander Romanov, a young defenseman with high upside, he’s shown weaknesses in the defensive end and isn’t at the same level as Hronek.
Dobson’s been asked to do more with less around him. Hughes averages 24:30 ice time while Dobson’s ice time is 25:53 which is the second-most in the league behind only Drew Doughty. Playing nearly 26 minutes a game is starting to affect the young Islanders’ defenseman and it’s limiting his ability to make a significant impact as a scorer. The hope is that with Adam Pelech returning to the lineup, his role won’t be as demanding and his production can take off.
Hughes Was In Dobson’s Shoes (Or Skates)
A few seasons ago, Hughes proved he had the upside to become an elite defenseman but couldn’t put it all together. Sometimes, he’d be overaggressive in the offensive zone, resulting in an odd-man rush the other way. Other times, he’d misplay the puck or the opposition, allowing them to find open shots on the net. Likewise, his decision-making with the puck would hold the offense back. This season, it’s all coming together after years of refining his skills.
Dobson is ahead of schedule and this season, is starting to hit his stride as a great two-way player. He’s the same age as Hughes but has far fewer NHL games under his belt. Dobson has only played 278 games while Hughes, who has been a regular since the 2019-20 season, has played 324 games. The Islanders took their time with their young defenseman and at first, played him on the bottom pairing alongside veterans like Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara but now that he’s matured, he’s ready to take on a top-pair role.
It won’t be long until Dobson is in the same conversation as Hughes. He’s continuing to improve and eventually will be a Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman. This season, the award will come down to Makar, who won it in 2022, and Hughes, who is one of the key players on one of the league’s best teams. By next season, Dobson will join those two, especially when he rounds out his game on the defensive end of the ice.
