Double-Digit Dobson

The number 10 was significant for Noah Dobson on Thursday night.
Dobson netted his 10th goal of the season, propelling the young defenseman into double-digits for the first time in his three-year NHL career. He's first Isles defenseman 22 or younger to score at least 10 goals in a season since Bryan Berard had 14 in the 1997-98 season. Dobson is also one goal shy of tying the most by an Isles blueliner in the last 10 years. That mark currently belongs to Nick Leddy, who scored 11 goals in 2016-17, and Dobson is closing in fast.

All 10 of Dobson's goals this season have come since Dec. 5, when he netted a buzzer beater with four seconds left against the Chicago Blackhawks, tying the score 2-2 and forcing OT for the Isles. Over that span, Dobson's 10 tallies are the most of any NHL defenseman, two more than Colorado's Cale Makar. Dobson's 23 points in that span are tied with Drew Doughty for 13th.

Among the Islanders, Dobson's 10 goals since Dec. 5 are tied with Anders Lee and are one behind Brock Nelson for the team lead, so the young defenseman has become a key part of the team's offense.
"As a young player the more games you're in the better you feel and more comfortable you feel," Dobson said ahead of the Islanders' game in Seattle a few weeks back. "That comes with confidence. That's a big thing, when you're playing well you're playing with confidence so just trying to focus on that each night and keep getting better each night and building off it and I've got a lot more confident and comfortable now."
Dobson's foray into double-digits on Thursday looked an awful lot like the goals that came before it, well-placed shots through traffic from the point. The Islanders' 2018 first-rounder doesn't have the sheer power of a Pulock or Zdeno Chara slapper, but he's got a knack for getting pucks through.
Of Dobson's 10 goals this season, the only outlier stylistically was his OT winner over the Edmonton Oilers on New Year's Day, when he skated in with a head of steam into the slot and snapped a wrister past Mikko Koskinen.

The number 10 was also the number of shot attempts for Dobson against the Canucks on Thursday night. The defenseman had five shots on goal, four attempts that were blocked another that missed the net. It comes on the heels of an eight-attempt night vs the Colorado Avalanche and Dobson has four-or-more shots on goal in four of his last six games. It's indicative of his shoot-first mindset and his increased confidence with the puck in his third year.
"You want to just try and get pucks to the net, but also I think I had a couple too many blocked," Dobson said of his 10-attempt night. "When the shot is there, I just want to take it and usually we have guys going to the net and banging stuff home, so it's definitely been a mindset of mine."
Dobson's had 15 games this year with four-or-more shots on goal, hitting seven twice this season. His 127 shots on goal this year nearly double his 69 from last season and he's set career-highs across the boards in goals (10), assists (17) and points (27), which nearly doubles his total from last year (14). His cross-ice pass to Lee against the LA Kings was just another sign of his confidence with the puck and his ability to create.
"You're seeing Noah get the confidence that he can take on guys a little bit," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "You don't always want your D leading the rush, but [against the Kings] he had an opportunity and he made the most of it. It shows that he's starting to get his confidence and he's getting the trust of the coaching staff that once in a while I can get up there and be a part of it."

Dobson's confidence has increased as the season has progressed, as has his role. He saw an uptick in ice time and responsibility when Pulock was sidelined for 25 games with a lower-body injury. After averaging 16:24 TOI/GP last season, Dobson is up to 21:09 TOI/GP this year, is quarterbacking a power-play unit and is often out in a six-on-five situation.
When Dobson has made mistakes as a young player, like a clearing attempt that quickly turned into a goal against in the last minute of a 4-3 loss to the Nashville Predators in December, he's been quick to learn and limit future gaffes.
"Early in the year I wasn't defending as hard as I needed to be and not being as hard in the d-zone," Dobson said. "Once I added that to my game it's really helped me and the other parts of the game have built off that, so just continue to build and be solid at both ends of the rink and continue to build off that and keep playing with confidence."

Trotz gives credit to the veteran defensemen - Johnny Boychuk, Andy Greene, Zdeno Chara and former landlord Dennis Seidenberg - with helping Dobson's development over the past three seasons.
"You're looking at Noah, who has gained a wealth of knowledge and a wealth of experience and a wealth of confidence," Trotz said. "Zee gets a lot of credit, but Andy Greene he's helped with Noah a lot and Johnny Boychuk did too. Those are three pretty good individuals who had a big impact on Dobson's development, and I think when Dobson looks back he'll be very thankful to have had those three quality individuals."
Dobson turned 22 back in January, so this is still just the start of a very promising NHL career. Even with a sizable step forward offensively already, there's plenty of runway for Dobson left to develop this season, which is an exciting prospect for the team and player.