2018 NHL mock draft: Post-NHL draft lottery

12. New York Islanders (from Calgary Flames): D Noah Dobson 

 The New York Islanders are lucky — they have back to back picks in the top half of the draft. Unfortunately, the Sedin twins are not available this year. The good news is there are plenty of talented players in the draft this year at both the center position and defense. With the twelfth pick in the draft, the New York Islanders will select defenseman Noah Dobson. Dobson had a tremendous second half of the season and climbed up draft boards everywhere. If there are some teams in the top ten looking for defense instead of help at forwarding Dobson could easily fall in that range.

The best part of Dobson’s game is his defense. He night in and night out would lock down the top players from opposing teams. He rarely got burned for a bad goal and dominated physically. The only defensemen in the draft better defensively is the number one overall pick. Dobson can do it all on the ice. The only thing holding him back and out of the first wave of defensemen is his offensive upside. He is a great passer of the puck and a decent enough skater to be great but he doesn’t have a great shot.

The Islanders are not thin on defense yet. However, as they look to rebuild their team, if Tavares is leaving, they will need to add an elite defensive prospect. The addition of Dobson on the blue line paired with the emergence of Mathew Barzal could be a long-term reason for success in the NHL.