Dougie Hamilton is playing his best hockey this season for the New Jersey Devils in the last little stretch. Is now the time to pull the trigger on a Devils trade, or should they hold off?
Luke Hughes is going to miss time. He allegedly separated his shoulder against the Calgary Flames on Monday, and on Tuesday morning, there was no update.
Typically, that’s not a good sign. Worst-case scenario, it points to some sort of lengthy absence. And although the bubble burst in the Hamilton situation, perhaps it’s time to reconsider moving him, at least until the summer.
Analytics expert Dimitri Filipovic explained on the latest Devils Rink Report that despite recent trade rumors, off-ice comments from his agent, and a healthy scratch against the Winnipeg Jets, moving Hamilton right now isn’t in New Jersey’s best interest—especially after his strong play in the four games since.
“It’s tough to see them make a move where they send Hamilton out and are better for it the rest of this season,” Filipovic said.
Before Hamilton was a healthy scratch, the dip in production was obvious. He accrued just five goals and 10 points through 40 games, signaling a decline in his game midway through his age-32 season.
“I know he hasn’t produced before these last two games the way I think we’ve become accustomed to and you’d expect from a $9 million defenseman.”
Despite his recent uptick in production with six assists, four primary, in his last four games, the context of Hamilton’s deployment matters, and it came with a trade-off.
“I think the context of his usage is very important,” Filipovic said. “Especially with all the time Brett Pesce missed. They leaned on him and Jonas Siegenthaler to such a large degree, defensively—it’s been the toughest deployment of his career, pretty much. And I thought defensively, he held up much better than you typically associate Dougie Hamilton with.
“It came at the expense of his offense. Some of that is environment-driven, where even if you make the right play as a defenseman on this team, the guys up front aren’t necessarily converting on it, and so you’re not going to get a lot of secondary assists as a defenseman on this group.”
As soon as Hamilton returned to the lineup, the increase in his production was obvious, but not just from a statistical standpoint. He has been reliable in both the neutral and defensive zones as well. In fact, he’s far and away been the Devils’ best defenseman.
“I think the last two games he’s played were probably the two best games he’s played all season. And so it’s a remarkable sort of response to the benching or healthy scratch from him,” Filipovic explained.
With Johnathan Kovacevic back from injury, and now that Luke could be out a while, sticking with Hamilton may be in the Devils’ best interest, especially since GM Tom Fitzgerald stated the goal is to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs..
“I’d like to see what he looked like in particular now that they’re getting healthier in the blue line if you’re going to play Kovacevic with Siegenthaler moving forward,” Filipovic said. “We saw him playing a little bit with Hamilton or with Brendan Dillon, I think in the Wild game, easing up on his minutes a little bit, giving him more opportunities to cook.”
Hamilton’s recent form—post-scratch bounce-back included—suggests the Devils are better off riding his services through the season’s end. That is at least until the summer, when they can re-evaluate what they have on the blue line and find the right suitor for him, while also being able to add up front properly.
It may be a tough pill for everyone to swallow, but a Devils trade involving Hamilton perhaps isn’t in New Jersey’s best interest.
