One of the biggest downfalls of the Boston Bruins' 2025-26 season was its defense. Entering the season, the blue line seemed like their biggest asset, with plenty of questions remaining about whether Jeremy Swayman would bounce back and whether the offense would score enough goals. However, Swayman turned in a Vezina-caliber season, and the offense scored at a pace that no one really saw coming.
Last offseason, the Bruins considered bringing in another defenseman to give themselves a formidable top-four, but ultimately didn't land a big name as some fans expected. One player who fans did circle was Noah Dobson, who ended up moving from the New York Islanders to the Montreal Canadiens for Emil Heineman and two first-round draft picks.
It seemed like a steep price to pay for the right-shot defenseman, but he had a solid season for the Canadiens, recording 47 points and solid defense as the team's second option from the backend behind Lane Hutson. He showed that he could thrive in that role as a complementary defenseman, and the Bruins sure could've used that behind Charlie McAvoy.
The offense did fall apart in the postseason, but the defense was a serious point of contention. They weren't fast enough to keep up with the Buffalo Sabres, which Dobson showed he could help, as his Canadiens outplayed the Sabres in the second round, and the puck-moving ability of the former Islander would've been a massive help for a group that couldn't get a breakout pass from their backend.
Islanders' ask wasn't too rich for the Bruins
There were questions about the price that the Canadiens eventually paid for Dobson, but the Bruins shouldn't have had any issues with meeting the ask. Boston was reportedly about to trade Matthew Poitras, Mason Lohrei, and some draft capital to the Calgary Flames at the trade deadline for Rasmus Andersson, who has much lower value than Dobson.
If Sweeney could've swung a deal with the Islanders for Poitras and two first-round picks, which he just spent on JJ Peterka, the Bruins could've been a much deeper team during the 2025-26 season and might've given the Sabres more of a run or even finished higher in the standings and gotten an easier draw.
Most importantly, the Bruins would've now had a 26-year-old right-shot defenseman locked in for the next seven seasons. The loss of draft capital likely wouldn't have allowed them to acquire Peterka at the draft 12 months later, but at this point, a puck-moving defenseman in the top-four would've been a much greater asset.
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