RD Noah Dobson - Acadie-Bathurst Titan, QMJHL (2018, 12th, NYI)

Jumptheshark

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Oct 12, 2003
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Oilers need an offensive d more right? Islanders already had Pulock so a more 2way guy was a good fit for us. Seems like a win-win


as both players fell to the oilers we had the discussion on our board--Bouchard fits are needs more right now--but the other guys upside maybe slightly higher

Bouchard may not make the team till next year--but he does take the pressure off of the oilers to make a desperate move. With a RHD with scoring upside it helps our depth

The only question is, if we were not in such a tight spot could we have waited an extra year or two for Dobson
 

Sens of Anarchy

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Jul 9, 2013
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Lets hold that debate, when games are meaningful. Ty Smith looked like a top 10 pick in this tourney. He is a less flashy better defensive Hughes.
Lets hold that debate, when games are meaningful. Ty Smith looked like a top 10 pick in this tourney. He is a less flashy better defensive Hughes. I still feel the group of Hughes, Boqvist, Dobson, Bouchard and Smith are separated by very little at this stage.

I said "right now" ... Hughes is USA, Boqvist is SWE. I admit I had Dobson ranked ahead of all these guys at the draft, but basing it soley on their WJSS performances Dobson imo clearly out performed Bouchard. He is just flat out better than Smith. Smith isn't going to leap frog him. Small sample and a summer tourny, so like I said "right now".
 

Jason MacIsaac

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I said "right now" ... Hughes is USA, Boqvist is SWE. I admit I had Dobson ranked ahead of all these guys at the draft, but basing it soley on their WJSS performances Dobson imo clearly out performed Bouchard. He is just flat out better than Smith. Smith isn't going to leap frog him. Small sample and a summer tourny, so like I said "right now".
He isn't flat out better than Smith. Talking in absolutely at this point is ridiculous. Smith has a good chance to end up something similar to Duncan Keith when all is said and done. Yes he is smaller but there are no weaknesses to his game and the metrics will likely follow him throughout his career. Both Dobson and Bouchard fell so obviously someone thinks they have some warts to their game. Smith fell as well so I will accept some criticisms of him.
 

BondraTime

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He isn't flat out better than Smith. Talking in absolutely at this point is ridiculous. Smith has a good chance to end up something similar to Duncan Keith when all is said and done. Yes he is smaller but there are no weaknesses to his game and the metrics will likely follow him throughout his career.
He is flat out better than Smith
 

BondraTime

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He isn't flat out better than Smith. Talking in absolutely at this point is ridiculous. Smith has a good chance to end up something similar to Duncan Keith when all is said and done. Yes he is smaller but there are no weaknesses to his game and the metrics will likely follow him throughout his career.
..
 

Jason MacIsaac

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Sens of Anarchy

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Explain to me how? Separated by 5 picks in the draft, I'm sure some teams had Smith in their top 8. Smith is a better passer, he is a better skater, he is smarter with the puck. There is a lot Smith does better.

I see you are a Smith fan and that's fine .. You have your opinion and you are perfectly entitled.. I don't think Smith is better at any of those things and I think Dobson has a better shot, and defends better and has a higher IQ. CS had Dobson ranked 5 and Smith 15 .. McKenzie had Dobson 6 and Smith 13.. At the draft it takes one team to like a player when its their turn to pick. IMO if they had to pick the Candian team right now, Dobson would be the 1st D picked. Not saying Smith is bad in any way. Just Dobson's better :laugh:. I'm ok if we disagree
 

BondraTime

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Explain to me how? Separated by 5 picks in the draft, I'm sure some teams had Smith in their top 8. Smith is a better passer, he is a better skater, he is smarter with the puck. There is a lot Smith does better.
Smith is not smarter with the puck, he's worse defensively, he has worse hockey I.Q in both ends of the rink, he's less physical, he is worse in transition, he's smaller, worse shot.

He is a better skater and passer (Dobson is an unbelievable skater regardless) and smoother, that's all I really give him at the moment. Dobson is flat out better than Smith in my opinion.

Sorry if I'm not taking a guy who has Dahlin the 3rd ranked prospect very seriously

It's fine, you like Smith and that's perfect. I won't agree for sure, but that's my perspective.
 

Jason MacIsaac

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I see you are a Smith fan and that's fine .. You have your opinion and you are perfectly entitled.. I don't think Smith is better at any of those things and I think Dobson has a better shot, and defends better and has a higher IQ. CS had Dobson ranked 5 and Smith 15 .. McKenzie had Dobson 6 and Smith 13.. At the draft it takes one team to like a player when its their turn to pick. IMO if they had to pick the Candian team right now, Dobson would be the 1st D picked. Not saying Smith is bad in any way. Just Dobson's better :laugh:. I'm ok if we disagree

Rankings are rankings. Every year some are right and some are wrong, I dislike speaking in absolutes. Defending is hard to quantify and realistically should be broken up into without the puck and with the puck because the two are completely different skill sets. I really liked Smith's stick position without the puck but Dobson has the size so moving forward, without the puck, Dobson should be better at disrupting the offense. With the puck there is no contest, Smith can skate the puck out of danger like no other at the junior level now, Hughes is probably around the same but I didn't really watch him all that much. Not to mention Smith's first pass is very good (a little off during the showcase). You can hide a physical defensmen with very little puck skills on Smith's pair.

Dobson is for sure has the better shot and will direct more shots towards the net at the NHL level. I would say Smith is a better distributer in the offensive zone so the RHD playing with smith should see an increase in shots/60. Both should drive offensive metrics due to hockey sense and passing ability. While a silly showcase Smith held the zone very well, even on difficult plays high off the boards or glass.

On the PP, Dobson's shot gives him the edge here. Anyone can be a pretty good PK'er at the next level with positioning and quickness, both will probably be good here.
 
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Jason MacIsaac

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Smith is not smarter with the puck, he's worse defensively, he has worse hockey I.Q in both ends of the rink, he's less physical, he is worse in transition, he's smaller, worse shot.

He is a better skater and passer (Dobson is an unbelievable skater regardless) and smoother, that's all I really give him at the moment. Dobson is flat out better than Smith in my opinion.

Sorry if I'm not taking a guy who has Dahlin the 3rd ranked prospect very seriously

It's fine, you like Smith and that's perfect. I won't agree for sure, but that's my perspective.

Most of this I would say is false but that's ok. It is your opinion just as this is my opinion. The first real time to compare them will be the WJC. This is August and this showcase is training camp stages for most.
 

LordNeverLose

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For me, Dobson is the best d-man prospect we've had since Eric Brewer. Thankfully it's Lou and Trotz watching over this kid rather than Milbury. Brewer was hyped as a future Norris-type of d-man if I recall correctly and was the one who would be our next Potvin and also pushing KJ down to the #2LD spot which would have been insane back then. Different time, different era, and different circumstances.
IMO Berard was an even better prospect than Brewer. If it weren't for that eye injury he would've been a stud.
 

Jason MacIsaac

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Once again I am not saying Smith is better than Dobson or do I care if he is. Rankings mean nothing. Both the Islanders and the Devils will have defensmen who may play 1PP, 1/2 PK, 1st pair 5 on 5 and should do well in at least two of those situations. Neither are likely to get traded based on their current progression and both will play very big roles on Team Canada this year and maybe next.
 

PWJunior

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I see you are a Smith fan and that's fine .. You have your opinion and you are perfectly entitled.. I don't think Smith is better at any of those things and I think Dobson has a better shot, and defends better and has a higher IQ. CS had Dobson ranked 5 and Smith 15 .. McKenzie had Dobson 6 and Smith 13.. At the draft it takes one team to like a player when its their turn to pick. IMO if they had to pick the Candian team right now, Dobson would be the 1st D picked. Not saying Smith is bad in any way. Just Dobson's better :laugh:. I'm ok if we disagree

On the heels of a strong Showcase showing, it's hard to find anyone other than Q Hughes who has more helium than Dobson right now. He's been ascending all year and it just keeps building. Memorial Cup win, highest drafted Islander to ever be drafted (previously Gormley at #13)... his stock is surging along with his confidence.

Along with being the new alpha dog on the blue line for Canada in the WJC, he would have enough hype to be a serious CHL d-man of the year contender. If he keeps improving his game at this rate, the era of Dobson is nigh.
 

PWJunior

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Kind of neat that the highest drafted Prince Edward Islander is also a New York Islander

He barely edged out Brandom Gormley by 1 spot. Most pundits figured he was going much earlier than #12. It was destiny.

If I recall correctly, didn't Gormley fall on draft day also? I remember not being all that thrilled with Cam Fowler (we already had CdH at the time) and was interested in Gormley as that complete 2-way beast... very similar scouting report and projection to Dobson as well.

Hopefully Dobson turns out a lot better than Gormley.
 
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