The Montreal Canadiens just made a big splash before the 2025 NHL Draft, landing defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders in a blockbuster trade. This is a deal by Kent Hughes that screams the team is done rebuilding and ready to compete.

Montreal didn’t just get him free they had to give up 23-year old left wing Emil Heineman who was drafted 43rd overall in 2020 and two 2025 first-round picks their 16th and 17th overall picks in return for Dobson. After trading for him they immediately signed him to an eight-year deal worth $76 million, which is an average of $9.5 million per year.

It’s a pretty penny, both in what they gave up and the money they’re paying, but it fits with the Canadiens plan to build a contender around their young stars. Dobson’s $9.5 million salary makes the Habs negative 3.3 million in terms of cap space according to PuckPedia. Which means the Habs are not done making moves yet.

However, when it comes to analyzing the term that they gave a young 25 year old, who is a proven defender on a team that has been out of contention, it is tidy business from the Habs. It makes our d-core look way more scary and it helps Montreal have an immediate replacement for the loss of David Savard. Also with the salary cap expected to go up in the next few years, it is a move that is ambitious and needs to pay off.

The contract also covers all of Dobson’s best playing years, and if he gets back to his 70-point form like in 2023-24, when he was playing top-pair minutes, it could be a great value. Even though he had fewer points in 2024-25 (39), his underlying stats were still good, especially getting the puck out of the defensive zone. Which makes him a perfect modern right-shot defenseman, that can hopefully fit our system.

Giving up two mid-first-round picks and a promising young player like Heineman isn’t nothing. But a lot of Habs fans think the Canadiens already have a ton of prospects and needed proven talent on defense to improve. People are saying the 2025 draft class isn’t amazing after the top 10, and Montreal probably saw Dobson as a better bet than anyone they could get with those picks.

Bottom line is that the Dobson trade is a big risk both financially and in terms of what they gave up for the future. But it feels right for where Montreal is trying to go. Habs fans want to see playoff hockey back at the Bell Centre and for it to mean something, and hopefully going past the first round, and maybe even going as far as getting that 25th Stanley Cup and Dobson could be the thing that turns the Canadiens from a rebuilding team into a real threat.