Noah Dobson earns $9.5 million per season: He needs to give back (a lot) more

Noah Dobson finished last night's game with four shots on goal and 21:44 of ice time.

And that's all there is to say on the positive side.

The Canadiens defenseman had a tough game and was (partly) responsible for two of the Sharks' goals. He needs to be more effective on the ice.

Tough night for Noah Dobson. He misplayed the half 2-on-1 on the second goal and had his stick and body positioning all wrong on the game-tying goal

Habs give up another two-goal lead

#TSN690 #GoHabsGo

— Jon Still (@Imstilljon) October 21, 2026

When you look at the advanced stats from the game, you realize just how off his game he was.

And when you compare his stats with those of the other Canadiens defensemen from yesterday's game, you also realize that he wasn't able to deliver—which has (often) been the case since the start of the season.

NHL Game Score Impact Card for the Montreal Canadiens on October 20, 2026: https://t.co/apde1Oleyb

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) October 21, 2026

Noah Dobson earns $9.5 million per year.

He's the team's highest-paid player (among both forwards and defensemen): can we start to see him play like a player of that caliber?

Can we see the Noah Dobson from last season again? Gilbert Delorme was right to criticize him, pointing out that he played poorly last night. And Gilbert Delorme is also right when he says that Dobson needs to step up his game.

Because the reality is, the Canadiens need him.

Here are the “Gilberts” for the game against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, October 20:

Player of the Game: Juraj Slafkovsky
He played well, but still: Nick Suzuki
I'm sorry, but he needs to do better: Noah Dobson

You can listen to the full segment here: https://t.co/jPGqWjzkPn https://t.co/Ytw00nQ4ok

— BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) October 21, 2026

Dobson has only two assists (two points) in eight games since the start of the season. He's also blocking fewer shots (11 in eight games)… and it makes you wonder if his injury at the end of last season is still on his mind.

Reminder: In '25–'26, Dobson finished the season second in the NHL in blocked shots…. 

 

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I'm not saying that #53 has to throw himself everywhere and do EVERYTHING to help his goalie by blocking shots.

But the defenseman needs to start playing like a guy who makes $9.5 million a year. He needs to lead by example… and that hasn't necessarily been the case since the start of the season.

In a nutshell

– Okay.

Mike Trout will have a new manager. https://t.co/wWpOr3dGml https://t.co/PXMszWpkCe

— Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) October 21, 2026

– It's official.

The Boston Bruins have re-signed forward Marat Khusnutdinov to a three-year, $11.85 million contract extension with an AAV of $3.95 million.

#NHLBruins https://t.co/PrsPzlM66R

— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) October 21, 2026

– Note.

Rod Brind'Amour wouldn't say that Seth Jarvis will play tomorrow, but he didn't say that he wouldn't either.

“It's getting closer. We're trying to get him every [rep], like power-play time and stuff he hasn't really been doing, in hopes that we'll be told he's good to go.”

— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) October 21, 2026

– Well done!

Austin Lemieux, son of Mario Lemieux, will tee off in the Butterfield Bermuda Classic this weekend after making it through Monday's qualifier. It will mark the 30-year-old amateur's first PGA Tour event.

Story from @BobWeeksTSN: https://t.co/edx2ZFyFNT

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) October 21, 2026