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'Noah Dobson is gone, but Tony DeAngelo will be able to replace his production.'

Originally posted on Dose.ca | Last updated Jul 19, 2025 6:38 PM ET

Much has been said about the Noah Dobson deal from the perspective of the Canadiens. After all, the club picked up a top-notch player who fills a need, but more importantly, a player who wanted to be in Montreal.

There’s no doubt that the Habs have improved as a result of this trade.

The case of the Islanders, however, is not as clear-cut. The club managed to get good value for a guy who wanted to leave, and in the long term, they’re hoping Matthew Schaefer can make Dobson forget.

In the short term, however, the Islanders are a lot worse. Emil Heineman will bring depth to the forwards, but defensively, Dobson’s absence will be felt.

We don’t know exactly what the Isles ‘ plan is to replace Dobson… but a sentence from the NHL Trade Rumors site in a piece on teams that could surprise in 2025-26 has enough to startle:

Noah Dobson is gone, but Tony DeAngelo will be able to replace his production by playing on the first wave of the powerplay.

There might be some interesting teams performing much better than expected next season. https://t.co/boeAD3l0fD

– NHL Trade Rumors (@NHLTradeRumors) July 19, 2025

If we look purely at the offensive side of things, it’s not completely absurd. We know that DeAngelo is an excellent offensive defenseman, who collected 19 points in 35 games with the Islanders last year.

The problem, however, is that replacing a player is about more than just points. DeAngelo, as good offensively as he is, is truly dreadful in his own zone… and putting him in the chair Dobson occupied last year is a recipe for disaster.

Dobson isn’t perfect defensively either, but he’s still much better than DeAngelo.

At $1.75 million a year, DeAngelo could be a useful player for the Islanders without costing too much. That said, if the Islanders really think they can put DeAngelo in Dobson’s chair and not notice a difference, good luck.

Overtime

– He’ll have to start his season in October rather than February this time.

Another big year incoming for Juraj Slafkovský #NHLYoungStarsWeek pic.twitter.com/yXaErWUAe2

– NHL (@NHL) July 19, 2025

– This isn’t the first time Grant McCagg has mentioned it.

Do not rule out Kapanen playing with Demidov and Bolduc. I lay out the reasons why it’s a possibility in this video: https://t.co/KQ98aKKJ4L

– Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) July 19, 2025

– The next few days will be crucial.