Many were waiting for Dougie Hamilton to sign in Calgary after being traded there prior to last weekend’s NHL Draft, and the numbers are in: Hamilton signed a six-year deal with the Flames that will make him the highest paid player in Calgary at $5.75 million per season.
That’s slightly more than the Bruins reportedly put forth on a six-year, $33 million final offer that prompted the trade to Calgary, but much less than the $7 million per season, Drew Doughty-level contract Hamilton was supposedly seeking. While it’s closer to the reasonable ballpark for a player like Hamilton, it’s also still too much money for a 22-year-old player coming off an entry-level deal that’s still developing his game. There is no guarantee that he’ll turn into a No. 1 defenseman over the next three years, but now he’s being paid in that neighborhood.
So what does all of this mean?
It indicates that Hamilton perhaps wasn’t very gung-ho about returning to Boston, and that a change for both player and team might have been in each parties best interest. It also begs the question as to whether Hamilton simply didn’t want to play for coach Claude Julien anymore, or if he wasn’t comfortable during the last three years in Boston.
It would explain Don Sweeney’s vague comments from Friday night in Florida that Hamilton wouldn’t be “comfortable” in a long-term deal in Boston given the way negotiations went down.
"I don't believe that Dougie would have been comfortable in Boston going forward for long term,” said Sweeney last Friday night at the BB&T Center. "The spread, for me, was a sharper indication that I felt we would be better served to head in a different direction at this time."
But the final number still doesn’t give Don Sweeney and the B’s an alibi for a paltry return for a 22-year-old defenseman expected to be a top-pairing blueliner for the next 10 years.
Boston Bruins
It boggles the mind that the B’s received a bigger haul (two first round picks, a blue chip D-man prospect and a college prospect) when all told for a rental player in Milan Lucic than they did for a young, potential franchise player in Hamilton. If the Bruins had taken Hamilton through July 1, they would have enjoyed all the negotiating leverage if no offer sheet had materialized for the restricted free agent from another team.
And the Bruins could have allowed the trade market to build up for Hamilton, and actually allow Eastern Conference teams to drive up the bidding for a 22-year-old with a world of potential. There’s a little less blame for the B’s and perhaps a little more blame for Hamilton after Tuesday’s contract, but there’s no denying the feeling that this whole situation could have been handled better by everyone involved.