Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSquatch
And I feel like he's been seen as that his whole career - big, talented skater, who could dominate at lower levels, but at the NHL level needed to commit to a more engaged defensive style, and hasn't done. The ceiling is obvious, and I think that's what the Flames banked on when they acquired him (and why the Bruins didn't get too upset about not keeping him, they play a very engaged physical hockey).
I never thought Dougie looked good as a defender, I thought Gio made up for Dougie's defensive lapses. Great to have a trailing D-man with a magic shot,but even better to have a mean, tough, engaged D-man with commitment, and suddenly we have a few of those (Gio, Hammer, and Andersson).
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In hindsight, I feel like Hamilton was not a guy who used the other skaters that well. He has a world class wrister, so he can score. But he wasn't a guy who could distribute the puck as well as Gio, or even Brodie does now.
Defensively, I think Hamilton probably got away with a lot in junior due to size, skating and reach, so he didn't have to position himself as well, or bodycheck much. NHL needs more positional awareness. Huska is supposedly a D-whisperer but he never got his hands on Hamilton. I wonder if he'd have done anything.