The NY Islanders and Noah Dobson both benefit from his All-Star omission.
The NHL All-Star weekend final 12 players have been decided by fan vote, and defenseman Noah Dobson of the New York Islanders was not selected to travel to Toronto.
The 24-year-old is having a breakout season. With 43 points in 42 games, he is almost at a point-per-game pace and could be in the running for the Norris Trophy.
As a result of the fan vote, two defensemen—Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and Morgan Reilly of the Toronto Maple Leafs who were hosting—were added to the roster. Makar deserves the position because he is possibly the best defenseman in the NHL. The only explanation for his lack of selection as the first representative of the Avs is the MVP-caliber season Nathan MacKinnon is enjoying. With 33 points at the halfway point of the season, Reilly is having a strong season, but he is still far behind Dobson in terms of scoring.
Given that seven of the twelve selections are players for the Leafs or the Canucks, the fan vote this year suggests that there are holes in the system due to the fervent support of Canadian fanbases.
Even though Dobson should have been selected for his first NHL All-Star team, the Islanders and he may actually benefit from the omission.
Dobson has been called upon more than any other Islander to fill in due to the injuries that have accrued on the team’s blue line this season. Dobber has been Lane Lambert’s first pick off the bench, averaging 25:50 per game, no matter what the circumstance.
Although Dobson’s performance doesn’t seem to be suffering from the extra minutes, a break could benefit him in the long run because the season is long. During the All-Star break, the Islanders have eight days off between games, which gives Dobson and the other players on the team—aside from Mat Barzal—a chance to unwind both physically and mentally.
With seven teams separated by just eight points in the fiercely competitive Metropolitan Division, the Islanders will need to exert maximum effort to push for a postseason spot. While seeing Dobson donning the All-Star sweater for the first time would be a fantastic sight, it may pay dividends down the line that he’s not.
Following the release of a video on the internet that appeared to show a man being roughly taken down by three security personnel during a Maple Leafs game at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment has announced that they are looking into a “security incident”.
The footage, which was shared on X and the Reddit communities r/leafs and r/nhl, depicts dozens of spectators witnessing a man being pinned to the arena’s concourse area floor by three men. The man is seen being repeatedly kneed in the head by a man wearing a blue suit.
