The Habs were hoping to add a key piece to their roster this summer. While it’s not a centre, they’ve done just that, acquiring him from the Islanders and signing him to an eight-year, $76 million contract. (Technically, New York gave him this deal before the trade as they were the only team that could sign him for eight years.)
Montreal is paying a significant price for his services as they’re sending the Islanders both the 16th and 17th overall picks in tonight’s first round along with winger Emil Heineman.
But Dobson is also a very significant blueliner and has been for several years now. The 25-year-old was a first-round pick back in 2018, going 12th overall and has blossomed into a legitimate top-pairing blueliner at a minimum and when he’s at his best, a true number one defender.
Dobson, a 6’4, right-hand shot, has averaged 52 points in 77 games over the past four seasons, his only four full years of NHL action. In 2023-24, he had his best campaign, notching 70 points in 79 games but saw his production dip this year to 10 goals and 29 assists in 71 contests.
That extreme shift over two years made his contract a bit of an interesting case. He was set to become a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration eligibility and was one year away from being able to reach unrestricted free agency. That presented a case of New York either needing to agree to terms (or trading him somewhere where they would agree) over the next couple of weeks or run the risk of Dobson filing for salary arbitration, getting a one-year award, and then potentially walking for free in 2026.
In the meantime, he immediately becomes Montreal’s top defender on the right side of their back end, joining Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, and Kaiden Guhle to round out a very mobile top four on the back end. The deal should push Alexandre Carrier onto the third pairing which is a better fit for him and could also allow for David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux to start next season at AHL Laval for more development time. Of course, things could further change with more trades or signings as the next week or so is expected to be quite busy around the NHL.
It will also be interesting to see how Dobson’s contract could affect Hutson’s. Eligible to sign a contract extension this summer, Montreal could try to use this price point in negotiations given that Dobson’s track record is longer and that Hutson’s next deal will carry more than just one RFA-eligible year on it. On the flip side, Hutson’s camp might want to use this as a floor for talks as his rookie year was better than Dobson’s several seasons ago. Either way, the Canadiens are about to have a very expensive back end in the near future.
As for what Montreal gave up in return, the 16th pick was acquired from Calgary as the incentive to take on the final year of Sean Monahan’s contract in 2022. Monahan, of course, was flipped on a cheaper deal last year for a first-round pick that was part of the package to move up and pick Michael Hage. The 17th pick is their own first-rounder, leaving the Habs without a pick as things stand in tonight’s first round.
Heineman, meanwhile, went into training camp as somewhat of an afterthought after an underwhelming first year in North America. However, he broke camp with the Canadiens and wound up being a solid depth contributor from the fourth line, notching ten goals and eight assists in 62 games (while also missing time after being hit by a car in Utah). He’s set to be a restricted free agent this summer.
As things stand, Montreal now technically projects to be over next year’s salary cap by a few million dollars, depending on what projection site you might be looking at. However, Carey Price remains LTIR-eligible which would allow them to spend past the cap once again but that would mean carrying bonus charges over to 2026-27. Once his signing bonus is paid at the beginning of September, it’s possible that the Habs could trade him, negating that situation but they won’t know for certain if that will be an option until most of the summer spending around the league is already done. That’s something Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will have to keep in mind over the coming weeks.
Dobson’s Stats: