In an ideal world, the best player available to the Canucks at seventh overall in the 2018 NHL Draft will be a defenceman. It’s the biggest position of need in the organization, both at the NHL level and throughout the prospect ranks.
Fortunately for the Canucks, the top of the draft is full of promising young defencemen. Rasmus Dahlin will go first overall, but Quinn Hughes, Adam Boqvist, Noah Dobson, Evan Bouchard, and Ty Smith won’t have to wait long for their names to be called.
Unless the Canucks decide they can’t miss one of the forwards available, one of those five defencemen will be picked seventh overall. In some ways, it comes down to personal preference: what kind of defenceman do you like? Hughes is a speedy, puck-rushing defenceman; Bouchard is a superb passer; Boqvist has incredible puck skills; Smith is a defensive workhorse.
If the Canucks are looking for a complete defenceman, however, Noah Dobson might be their best bet.
Dobson turned some heads late in the year with a standout performance at the Memorial Cup — he led all defencemen with 2 goals and 7 points in 4 games — but he was dominant in the QMJHL all season. He played massive minutes for the Acadie-Bathurst Titans and displayed a mature, two-way game that has landed him in the top-ten in most draft rankings.
Bob McKenzie’s latest rankings for TSN have Dobson at sixth overall, and he’s not alone. Cam Robinson at Dobber Prospects and Jeff Marek at Sportsnet also have him at sixth overall, while very few rankings see him outside the top-ten.
The defenceman has been compared to Zach Werenski, Seth Jones, and Alex Pietrangelo, which is heady company. Of course, every prospect is compared to their best case scenario: you very rarely hear a power forward prospect hyped up as the next Alek Stojanov.
Dobson’s defensive ability sets him apart from the likes of Hughes and Boqvist, and a big reason is his skating. In on-ice testing at the CHL Top Prospect Game, Dobson was the fastest backwards skater both with and without the puck. That skating, combined with his high hockey IQ, makes him exceptionally difficult to beat off the rush.
Down low in the zone, Dobson has the size and strength to win puck battles and box out opposing forwards, though he’ll need to add some weight to his 6’3” frame to do the same at the NHL level. That shouldn’t be an issue.
Dobson’s ability to play without the puck gives him a high floor: it’s hard to imagine him not becoming a top-four defenceman in the NHL thanks to the defensive side of his game and high hockey IQ. Sometimes, however, that high floor comes with a low ceiling, as the player lacks the upside to be an impactful player on a top pairing.
That’s not the case for Dobson.
Dobson was second in the QMJHL among defencemen in scoring, tallying 17 goals and 69 points in 67 games. He led all defencemen in shots on goal per game and was adept at creating offence at both even-strength and on the power play.
In transition, Dobson preferred to pass the puck out of the defensive zone (and he has a great first pass), but he was more than capable of skating it out and join the rush as well with his excellent skating.
While Dobson was more of a shooter on the power play than a quarterback after the mid-season arrival of Olivier Galipeau, he’s capable in both roles. What’s particularly noticeable on the power play is how he’s constantly in motion away from the puck, always providing a passing option and preparing himself for a quick one-timer. It’s that awareness and ability to read the play that makes him an exciting player to watch.
Essentially, Dobson is the complete package. He has the size, skating, skill, shot, and defensive ability to be an all-situations number one defenceman.
“Whoever drafts him is gonna get a guy who can pile up minutes and can play against top lines and run your power play,” said Sylvain Couturier, the GM of the Titans. “That’s what he’s doing at our level. But in five or six years, he’ll do that at the next level as well.”
For the Canucks, who have repeatedly emphasized character and compete, Dobson’s commitment to constantly improving his game will make a big difference.
“He keeps climbing every time I see him,” said one scout in The Hockey News. “He’s not even close to his ceiling yet.”
Dobson showed that commitment at 15, leaving his home in Summerside, PEI to play for the Red Bull Akademie in Salzburg, Austria. The program involved hours of practice and workouts every day, and he spent extra time honing his shot and skating. Even in that program, full of elite young athletes, Dobson stood out.
“He was just a smarter hockey player than a lot of the guys on the ice,” said J.D. Forrest, a coach with the Red Bull program at the time.
While he may be the complete package on defence, there is a downside to Dobson. He lacks the dynamic side to his game that his peers Quinn Hughes and Adam Boqvist possess. Dobson isn’t as creative offensively as either Hughes or Boqvist and, while a very good skater, isn’t on the same level as either of those two defencemen.
What Dobson does have on Hughes and Boqvist is four to five inches of height amd a far more mature defensive game.
While some fans might be disappointed if the Canucks pick Dobson ahead of more dynamic players like Hughes and Boqvist (if they’re available), it will be an easily defensible choice. There’s a good chance that Dobson ends up being the second-best defenceman in the 2018 draft.
