Islanders' Noah Dobson Reportedly Traded to Canadiens, Lands $76M Contract

The Montreal Canadiens are reportedly bringing in one of the NHL's most productive right-shot defensemen ahead of the 2025-26 season.

ESPN's Kevin Weekes reported Friday, just hours before the start of the 2025 NHL draft, that the Habs agreed to acquire defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that Dobson signed an eight-year contract extension worth $9.5 million annually with the Canadiens as part of the trade.

In return, the Islanders landed a package headlined by two first-round picks:

Dobson had been set to hit restricted free agency after his previous three-year, $12 million contract expired following the 2024-25 season.

The 25-year-old has averaged more than 23 minutes per game for the last two seasons as a top-pairing defenseman for the Isles.

The Islanders may not have been able to find a compromise on an extension that would leave them with enough cap space to continue negotiating with other restricted free agents, including Alexander Romanov, Simon Holmstrom and Max Tsyplakov.

Dobson is one season removed from being one of the most productive defensemen in the NHL. He ranked seventh among all defenders with 70 points (10 goals, 60 assists) as he helped quarterback the Islanders' power play in 2023-24.

Although his defense flagged down the stretch, he was the subject of early Norris Trophy discussions earlier that season and still received votes for the award that spring.

Dobson's offensive production dropped in 2024-25, during which he scored another 10 goals but saw his assists total drop to 29. He also recorded the second-worst plus-minus rating on the team with a minus-16 across 71 games.

Some of that could be attributed to the Islanders' overall struggles as one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL. Dobson still ranks 10th among all defenders in points over the last four seasons.

The Canadiens were in need of another right-shot defenseman who could add some depth behind Alexandre Carrier. The Habs will now hope a change of scenery and time on the power play can help Dobson live up to the offensive potential he showed during stretches of the 2023-24 campaign.

Dobson, who turned 25 in January, has played 388 games since he was selected by the Islanders with the No. 12 pick of the 2018 draft. He leaves Long Island having recorded 50 goals and 180 assists for 230 points with the franchise.