Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson has no timetable for a return from the lower-body harm he suffered in Monday’s win over the Blue Jackets, the workforce advised Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News and NHL.com. Dobson needed to go away the competition after falling awkwardly whereas making an attempt a test on Columbus middle Cole Sillinger, though he skated off underneath his personal energy.
Dobson will seemingly be positioned on injured reserve in some unspecified time in the future earlier than Friday’s recreation towards the Flyers, which is able to give them the roster area to recall an additional defenseman. Scott Mayfield figures to slip up right into a top-four function at even energy within the interim, whereas Ryan Pulock might see an uptick in ice time by taking Dobson’s spot on their high power-play unit.
New York has didn’t preserve tempo within the wild-card race, sitting one recreation under .500 and 7 factors again of the Bruins for the second Jap Convention spot. The Athletic nonetheless gave the Isles a 17 p.c probability of rebounding and making up that floor with 36 video games remaining, however will probably be a battle with their most precious defenseman set to overlook a number of weeks.
Dobson hits pause on his 2024-25 season with six objectives, 18 assists, 24 factors and a minus-eight ranking over 46 appearances, translating to a 0.52 points-per-game fee that’s a pointy drop from final 12 months’s career-best 0.89. That may partially be defined by the Islanders’ dismal energy play, tied with the Geese for final within the league at 12.5 p.c. 24 of his 70 factors final season got here with a person benefit, however he’s on tempo for half that PP level complete this 12 months. Dobson stays the workforce’s chief in common time on ice (24:01), photographs on objective (143) and takeaways (28), so it’s not all unhealthy for the 25-year-old.
Accidents haven’t but price Dobson vital time in his six-year NHL profession, however that appears to alter now. He’s by no means missed greater than 4 video games in a single season as a result of a non-illness-related harm, however he might simply miss greater than twice that earlier than the Isles’ schedule pauses in early February for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The harm additionally is available in a contract 12 months for Dobson, who’s ticketed for an enormous increase on his present $4M AAV as a pending restricted free agent. The 6’4″ righty has 143 factors in 203 video games over the lifetime of his present three-year bridge deal and can seemingly argue for not less than doubling his wage on a long-term deal.
