Habs' Nick Suzuki reveals the circumstances of finding out about $76M Canadiens D-man's blockbuster sign-and-trade deal

The Montreal Canadiens strengthened their blue line by making a blockbuster trade with the New York Islanders for Noah Dobson in the offseason, and signing him to an eight-year, $76,000,000 extension. In exchange, the Islanders received two 2025 first-round picks and forward Emil Heineman.

Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki addressed the Noah Dobson trade for the first time during his annual charity golf tournament. He revealed the circumstances under which he found out about the acquisition.

According to an interview by the Athletic's Arpon Basu, Suzuki and Habs teammate Cole Caufield were returning from Joel Edmundson's wedding venue in Scotland, when he found about Dobson's trade on X.

“Me and Cole were sitting on a bus leaving Eddy’s wedding when a bunch of tweets started coming out that we were going to trade for Dobson. So me and Cole were kind of freaking out on the bus home,” Suzuki said.

As the trade was not announced at that time, Nick Suzuki reached out to Dobson, whom the Habs captain had known since 2018, when they were at the Canadian World Junior training camp.

“I actually texted Dobber to see if there was any truth to this. It hadn’t been done yet, but he seemed like he was hoping it could possibly be the case." Suzuki added.

After the additions of Noah Dobson and Zachary Bolduc in the offseason, and GM Kent Hughes looking to further fill the 2C void in the Canadiens' lineup, captain Suzuki is confident his team has what it takes to make the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, and maybe even perform better than last playoffs' first round exit.

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Noah Dobson happily accepted a sign-and-trade to the Canadiens after talks broke down with Islanders

Noah Dobson would have become a restricted free agent on July 1, had he not agreed to the sign-and-trade deal to the Canadiens, which was officially announced on June 27th. The 25-year-old defenseman opened up about the failed negotiations with the New York Islanders, and how they eventually led to his departure from Long Island.

In an interview posted on NHL.com, Dobson revealed that both parties were working on a deal that would have extended his stay with the Islanders, but those talks fell through as they could not reach an agreement on the terms.

"(Staying on Long Island) was always the goal to start but unable to find any common ground on that. And at some point we just felt it would be best to go in different directions and look for a trade," said Dobson.

Montreal and Canadiens hockey holds a high place in Noah Dobson's eyes, who the praised passionate Habs fanbase, and the iconic Bell Centre. On signing a long-term extension with the Canadiens, Dobson said,

"Without hesitation a no-brainer for me."

Noah Dobson is set to feature in the Canadiens' regular-season opener on October 8th against Auston Matthews' Maple Leafs.