Key Islanders defenseman facing indefinite absence due to lower-body injury

Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson has no timetable for a return from the lower-body injury he suffered in Monday’s win over the Blue Jackets, the team told Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News and NHL.com. Dobson had to leave the contest after falling awkwardly while attempting a check on Columbus center Cole Sillinger, although he skated off under his own power.

Dobson will likely be placed on injured reserve at some point before Friday’s game against the Flyers, which will give them the roster space to recall an extra defenseman. Scott Mayfield figures to slide up into a top-four role at even strength in the interim, while Ryan Pulock could see an uptick in ice time by taking Dobson’s spot on their top power-play unit.

New York has failed to keep pace in the wild-card race, sitting one game below .500 and seven points back of the Bruins for the second Eastern Conference spot. The Athletic still gave the Isles a 17 percent chance of rebounding and making up that ground with 36 games remaining, but it will be a struggle with their most valuable defenseman set to miss multiple weeks.

Dobson hits pause on his 2024-25 season with six goals, 18 assists, 24 points and a minus-eight rating over 46 appearances, translating to a 0.52 points-per-game rate that’s a sharp drop from last year’s career-best 0.89. That can partially be explained by the Islanders’ dismal power play, tied with the Ducks for last in the league at 12.5 percent. 24 of his 70 points last season came with a man advantage, but he’s on pace for half that PP point total this year. Dobson remains the team’s leader in average time on ice (24:01), shots on goal (143) and takeaways (28), so it’s not all bad for the 25-year-old.

Injuries haven’t yet cost Dobson significant time in his six-year NHL career, but that looks to change now. He’s never missed more than four games in a single season due to a non-illness-related injury, but he could easily miss more than twice that before the Isles’ schedule pauses in early February for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The injury also comes in a contract year for Dobson, who’s ticketed for a big raise on his current $4M AAV as a pending restricted free agent. The 6’4″ righty has 143 points in 203 games over the life of his current three-year bridge deal and will likely argue for at least doubling his salary on a long-term deal.