NHL Prospect Profile: Noah Dobson

Statistics

Scout Quotes

Dobson plays a strong defensive game, with good positioning and gap control. His strong skating allows him to keep attackers in front of him and force them to the outside. He keeps himself between the puck and the net, and uses a long and active stick to cut down passing lanes. Dobson is not afraid to put his body on the line to block shots. He battles hard along the boards, and wins most of his battles at the junior level, but can still get stronger. He is also very good at clearing the front of the net. Dobson has also been known to throw a big hit from time-to-time, but these are rare as he works hard not to get caught out of position.

Dobson can stand to improve his upper body strength and be more effective in physical battles and get even more power on his shot. There is time for the 18-year-old to add muscle to a skinny frame. He may need a year or two of development time, but he has the potential to be a number one defenceman at the NHL level, playing both the power play and the penalty kill, and taking on other team’s top lines. – Last Word on Hockey

Rangy, mobile defender with size and strong puck skills who sticks to his opponents like velcro. Dobson is a rare specimen for a teenage defender in that he is a big-bodied puck mover with speed who plays with poise in all three zones. He is one of the QMJHL’s top scoring blueliners thanks to his ability to run a power play, dictate the tempo of a game regardless of the situation and seize opportunities that nobody else was able to identify. Dobson is a strong, agile skater with a deceptively quick first step and the ability to make sharp directional changes in open ice. Getting the puck behind pesky opponents in the neutral zone can be done with either his wheels or with hard, crisp passes, but Dobson isn’t the kind of defenseman who lets his forwards take it from there — he loves to jump into openings and create or finish from areas close to the hashmarks. – The Draft Analyst

AJ’s Thoughts

Dobson is a superstar in the making. He’s the full package as a defenseman. Even though he’s not quite as high ceiling a player as Dahlin, he’s still easily the second-best defenseman in this class in my eyes. He simply has to ability to do everything but he’s flat-out dominant in his own zone. His size, skating, stickwork, and physicality in his own zone all combine to crush. Offensively, though, is where he really jumps up the boards. He may not have the offensive flash of several of the puck-movers in this class but his combination of offense and defense makes him the most well-rounded defender outside of Dahlin. He’s a baller.

Highlights

Avalanche Fit

He would be a fantastic understudy to Erik Johnson. Oh, to dream.

Rankings

#5 Hockey Prospect
#10 Future Considerations
#8 McKeen’s Hockey