Coveted trade target Noah Dobson fires agent amid relentless talks sending him out of New York!
Imminent trade in the works? Get the full details below:
Rumours have recently emerged that the New York Islanders could be willing to trade defenseman Noah Dobson for an elite scoring forward, seeing that the blue liner is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1 with arbitration rights.
The 25-year-old defenseman is in the final season of a three-year contract with an average annual value of $4 million, and has become a coveted target on the trade block if general manager Lou Lamoriello finds the ideal offer to part with him.
Amid the rumours, Dobson has made a move to perhaps better handle the situation as he has reportedly fired agent Andrew Maloney, changing over to Judd Moldaver and Olivier Fortier of Wasserman, per Islanders insider Stefen Rosner.
On Monday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Islanders were not actively making Dobson available for trade, though we can understand that, amid all the uncertainty, the defenseman wants to remain cautious. Friedman said:
“I don’t think he’s generally been out there. There’s too many teams that hadn’t heard it, so I’ll say this. If Dobson was discussed, he was discussed in a specific case or two or however many it was. There was one specific team or one specific player that the Islanders were looking at, and if they had gone down the road on that trade, then Dobson might have been included. I think that’s the fairest way to look at all of this."
The belief is that the Vancouver Canucks is the club the insider was referring to, and perhaps the idea of a blockbuster trade involving forward Elias Pettersson could have been discussed.
Lamoriello is more than likely seeking a NHL-ready player for Dobson and not a deal for futures.
In the meantime, the blue liner remains prepared and now can count on news agents to handle the rumours.
