from Daniel Nugent-Bowman of Sportsnet,

Now a star prospect for the 2018 NHL Draft, Dobson took a calculated chance the year before he joined the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan. He left a country where hockey reigns supreme for a place where it’s much lower in the pecking order. Dobson lived in Salzburg, Austria for the 2015–16 season after being recruited to join Red Bull Akademie, a hockey and soccer development program then in its second year as a hothouse for promising 14-to-20-year-olds from around the world. It meant moving five time zones away from his family when he was just 15, but it helped get him to where he is today. “I take a lot of pride in where I’m from. It’s where I fell in love with the game,” Dobson says. “[But] as you get older, you have to make sacrifices to help your career and move away from home and get off the Island a bit.”

Dobson has since returned to the Maritimes, suiting up for the Titan — a team in a community that’s near and dear to his family’s heart. With the Titan, he’s improved the skills he developed overseas and helped the team capture 2018 QMJHL and Mastercard Memorial Cup titles.

Now 18, Dobson is a six-foot-three, 178-pound, all-around defenceman. A right-handed shot, he’s a projected top-10 NHL pick and may be the first Canadian chosen. He’ll also be the highest-drafted born-and-raised Islander if he’s nabbed by the 12th selection. (Blueliner Brandon Gormley was picked 13th by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2010.)

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