The New York Islanders have sent a qualifying offer to defenseman Noah Dobson, his agent, Andrew Maloney, told amNewYork on Monday night.
It remains to be seen if the team has sent other qualifying offers to restricted free agents, which includes the newly-acquired Alex Romanov, Kieffer Bellows, and Michael Dal Colle. The deadline to extend those offers was 5 p.m. ET on Monday.
The period for all free agents — restricted and unrestricted — to accept and sign deals does not come until Wednesday at noon ET.
Extending a qualifying offer to Dobson comes as no surprise considering the 22-year-old solidified himself as a fixture of the team’s defensive core for years to come.
In just his third NHL season, he posted 13 goals and 38 assists (51 points), becoming the second defenseman aged 22 or younger in Islanders history (Denis Potvin) to put up 50 or more points in a single season.
“The more games you play, the more comfort you get, you kind of get confidence,” Dobson said of his game back in March. “The big thing for me is getting confidence.”
While he’s just one part of the Islanders’ blue-line foundation alongside Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, Dobson’s responsibilities as a top-tier defenseman will only increase moving forward. After working extensively with 44-year-old Zdeno Chara for most of the 2021-22 campaign, early projections suggest he will be working alongside Romanov on New York’s second pairing — creating a young, high-ceiling duo.
