Noah Dobson signed a three-year contract with the New York Islanders on Monday. Financial terms were not announced.
The 22-year-old defenseman was a restricted free agent. He had NHL career highs in goals (13), assists (38) and points (51) in 80 games last season.
Selected by New York in the first round (No. 12) of the 2018 NHL Draft, Dobson has 72 points (17 goals, 55 assists) in 160 regular-season games and seven assists in 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
“What I like about him is what most of us see, his hockey instincts and his offensive capabilities as far as reading plays,” Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said.
Lamoriello said a key to Dobson’s development was his willingness to be patient in his growth while learning and sitting out some nights in the NHL the past two seasons. He played 34 games as a rookie in 2019-20 and 46 games in 2020-21.
“He had the patience and he had the self-discipline to just practice every single day, get an opportunity every so often and just grew as a patient player of growing strength,” Lamoriello said. “Really worked at his game and had the opportunity to do that and put extra sessions in after regular practices because he knew he wasn’t going to be playing.
“And then when he had the opportunity to get full time, as he did last year, he grew throughout the season, so I don’t think there’s any height to where he can go.”
Defenseman Alexander Romanov and forward Kieffer Bellows also signed contracts Monday.
Romanov, a restricted free agent, signed a three-year contract; financial details were not announced. He had been acquired along with a fourth-round pick (No. 98, defenseman Isiah George) in the 2022 NHL Draft in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on July 7 for the No. 13 pick of the 2022 draft.
The 22-year-old had 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 79 games with the Canadiens last season. In two NHL seasons he has 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in 133 regular-season games and one goal in four playoff games.
Bellows, also an RFA, signed a one-year contract; no financial terms were announced. The 24-year-old had 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 45 games last season. He has 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 67 games, all with the Islanders, and is the son of retired NHL forward Brian Bellows, who played 18 seasons from 1982-99.
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