One offseason decision may have loomed larger than any other for the Bruins’ 2025-26 season, and it came on the back end. Boston went into the year with its blue line looking like a strength, while the bigger worries centered on Jeremy Swayman and whether the offense would produce enough.
Instead, Swayman delivered a Vezina-caliber season and the scoring came through in a way few expected. The defense, though, never fully held up.
That is where Noah Dobson comes into focus.
Last offseason, Boston explored adding another defenseman to build out a tougher top four, but the big swing fans were waiting for never happened. Dobson was one of the names on the radar, and he eventually landed with the Montreal Canadiens after leaving the New York Islanders in a deal that sent Emil Heineman and two first-round draft picks the other way.
At first glance, that price looked steep for a right-shot defenseman. But Dobson backed up the move with a strong season in Montreal, finishing with 47 points while giving the Canadiens steady work on the blue line as their second option behind Lane Hutson. He fit the role as a complementary defenseman, and that’s exactly the kind of player the Bruins could have used behind Charlie McAvoy.
Boston’s postseason problems were not limited to the offense, even if the attack fell apart there too. The defense became a real issue, especially against a fast Buffalo Sabres team.
Dobson’s ability to help a club move the puck and keep pace showed up for Montreal, which outplayed Buffalo in the second round. For a Bruins group that struggled to complete breakout passes from the back end, that skill set would have been a major lift.
The cost also looks more manageable when you compare it to other defense discussions around Boston. The Bruins were reportedly close to sending Matthew Poitras, Mason Lohrei, and draft capital to the Calgary Flames for Rasmus Andersson at the trade deadline, and Andersson carries much lower value than Dobson.
If Don Sweeney could have worked out a deal with the Islanders built around Poitras and two first-round picks - the same kind of draft capital he later used on JJ Peterka - Boston might have entered 2025-26 with a deeper roster and a better shot at climbing higher in the standings. That could have meant a tougher push in the East and, potentially, a more favorable playoff path.
The long-term value is just as clear. The Bruins would have had a 26-year-old right-shot defenseman signed for the next seven seasons. Giving up that draft capital would have made the Peterka move at the draft 12 months later much less likely, but at this point the tradeoff seems obvious: a puck-moving top-four defenseman would have been the bigger prize.
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Pastrnaks sixth-place finish in Hart Trophy voting only sharpened the picture of how indispensable he has become. The Bruins have long benefited from having a true star in his prime, but the conversation around him keeps drifting back to whether enough talent has been put around him to make the most of it. His bargain status should be a luxury, yet it also reads like pressure, because a player this valuable makes roster shortcomings easier to see. [Read more 🡒]