One-third of NHL players: Dobson on par with Slafkovsky

Raphael Simard
One-third of NHL players: Dobson on par with Slafkovsky
Credit: X

This morning, The Athletic published a ranking that's sure to get people talking.

The list ranked players in order of importance: MVP, franchise players, stars, and role players.

In fact, two Canadiens players are in the latter category: Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes.

I disagree about Demidov, but whatever…

What's interesting to note is seeing Noah Dobson (who I really like, by the way) in the same category as Juraj Slafkovsky (all-stars) and ranked higher than Demidov. I disagree with that one. 

In fact, the NHL website projects the right-hander to have a strong 55-point season. It also projects Demidov to reach the 70-point mark for the first time in his career, Slaf to score the same number of points as last year (73), Nick Suzuki to fall two points short of the 100-point mark, and Caufield to surpass the 90-point mark for the first time in his career.

Projections for several Canadiens players can be found here.

Dobson is an excellent player and a major acquisition by Kent Hughes in the summer of 2025, but I don't think he's as important as Slaf, let alone Demi. But then again, The Athletic was wrong to place the Russian in the “support” category in the first place…

It's worth noting that Cole Caufield is in the “All-Star” category, while Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson—unsurprisingly—are in the “franchise” category. No Habs player is in the “MVP” category, where the Connor McDavids of the world belong.


In a nutshell

– A good one from Jack.

– Wow.

– Confirmed.

– One to watch.

– Great news!

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