Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
Even 1 year into a young defenceman's 6 year contract is premature to judge if he's worth the money.
6 games is... something.
EDIT: Contract aside, give him time. Hedman broke out at 22 after 4 years in the league, he wasn't amazing before that. Hamilton has played 2.5 seasons and is also just 22. New teams and new systems (and a team that is playing horribly) is hard for any defenceman. Worse for a kid.
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To be fair, Hamilton had 42 points with the Bruins last season playing 21:20 minutes a game. That's pretty impressive for a 21 year old and hence the reason he was highly sought after and paid rather large money for his present skill and potential.
Everyone's expectations are going to be different but he is averaging 22:47 minutes per game this season. He should be used to the workload....it's 1:27 more a game he's playing. There were dozens of players to new teams this off season and not some set of special circumstances for Hamilton. After watching Hamilton in preseason and now six games of regular season, I think it should be somewhat concerning we haven't seen much improvement in his play....regardless of new system/coaching/etc. Some of his plays are terrible gaffes in judgement and hence when he is now -6 and 10 PIM.