Dougie Hamilton signed to a monstrous seven-year, $63 million deal on July 28 with the New Jersey Devils. With such an inflated deal, he is one of the highest paid defenceman in the League. Does he deserve that much? The 6-foot-6 defenseman had full offensive freedom with the Carolina Hurricanes as he played with Brett Pesce, who certainly protected his back end.
Yes, Hamilton has been collecting points at five-on-five and on the power play with 50, 44, 39, 40 (in 47 games) and 42 (in 55 games) respectively over the past five years. Offensively, he stands out considerably from his peers, but defensively, it's laborious. Then that's exactly where it could hang in New Jersey since no one has the defensive skills of a Pesce on the roster.
As Mike Futa wisely pointed out on an episode of Tim & Friends, the Canes were a perfect fit for him playing with guys like Pesce, who helped cover his defensive flaws. Futa doesn't see any partners in the style of Pesce to play with him in New Jersey. He's totally right. Ryan Graves, Jonas Siegenthaler and Ty Smith are the left-handed candidates to be paired with Hamilton.
Tom Fitzgerald may quickly regret the $9 million (annually) he gave to Dougie Hamilton. Unless he can find the perfect partner to properly cover his defensive flaws. Who knows, maybe the Devils' GM is still shopping around, in an effort to fill this issue.
