Quote:
Originally Posted by dino7c
How is Stone better? Their career highs in goals and points are within spiting distance of each other and o e guy plays defence FFS
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I realize the popular opinion would follow that Hamilton > Stone but I actually think Stone is a better player. He's got an uncanny ability to elevate his game when his team needs him, and he's very multidimensional with goal scoring, playmaking, and he's arguably the top defensive winger in the entire NHL.
Honestly, while I don't think Hamilton is even an average never mind bad defenseman by any means, I feel he's pretty one-dimensional, that one dimension being his ability to get his shot off on the offensive zone. It's a very useful dimension, but one I could live without compared to all that a Stone brings. Honestly I don't think defensively he's much better than any of Kulak, Hamonic, Brodie, or Giordano, and offensively I don't think he's a better actual playmaker than Brodie or Giordano. His shooting is elite, probably second only to Brent Burns in the entire NHL, but how vital is that? I'm not convinced it is, but I am convinced Hamilton holds very high value relative to his impact.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dino7c
Hamilton just lead the entire league for goal scoring at his position.
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I've seen this posted often, but what exactly does that mean for a team? Seventeen goal scorers are dime a dozen - doing it from the backend might even be a bad gameplan if you had to Glen Gulutzan Mindless Volume Shoot your way to do it. Seventeen goals from a Dman IS impressive, as an individual accomplishment, but does it help a team win more compared to a 40 assist defenseman or a 30 goal scoring forward?
My real question is this - can Dougie Hamilton one-man-QB a power play a la Shattenkirk, Carlson, etc? And if so, why has no coach in his entire career given him that opportunity?