Why the Carolina Hurricanes Should Re-Sign Dougie Hamilton

Options If Dougie Doesn’t Get Re-Signed

With the expansion draft, you are completely bound to losing one defender if you play your protections right. The best case scenario is you lose one of Brady Skjei or Jake Gardiner, and you’ll have 4 defenseman ready to play and under contract, with Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Jake Bean and then one of the two aforementioned defenseman that aren’t selected in the expansion draft.

This is good, but you still need a defenseman that can effectively drive play and preferably be a RHD, which describes Dougie Hamilton. You can pay him the $8-$8.5 million he would like and still have money left over for Svechnikov and the other notables, like the goalies and some depth forwards.

But not re-signing him is where you are going to find a problem. The options in free agency are not great, with some of the top names being Tyson Barrie, Brandon Montour, Alec Martinez, Vince Dunn and Ryan Murray. None of those names inspire confidence and that’s if any of them even make it to free agency. The best names out of the list are Tyson Barrie and Alec Martinez, but Martinez plays on the left and Tyson Barrie is just a shorter, worse version of Dougie Hamilton.

Don’t get me wrong, though- if you want a replacement for Dougie Hamilton, Barrie is going to be your best option. Like I mentioned earlier, he is going to be a shorter and much less effective version of Dougie Hamilton, but he would be the closest thing to Dougie available on the free agency market.

Barrie started his career in Colorado, where he put up 307 points in 484 games. After a stop in Toronto which, to say the least, didn’t help his career, he’s found a home in Edmonton where he has 35 points in 42 games.

The problems with Barrie mostly lie with the other parts of his game. If you think Dougie is a liability on defense, Barrie is a whole different beast. You could also make the argument that Barrie is more injury prone. As of right now, it also seems as if the Edmonton Oilers are going to try their hardest to keep him, as his numbers show that he plays a pivotal part in getting that puck in the hands of two of the top 5 centers in the NHL to do what they do best.

Then you would have to look at trade options, and then finally the draft/your own prospects. I’m not incredibly well-versed in the trade market options and truthfully, there aren’t going to be a ton of names out there since right-handed defensemen are already a scarcity in the league, with offensive-minded ones being even more rare.

This then leaves your own prospects, and then the draft. Now, you do have some options within the organization in Joey Keane, Anttoni Honka, Roland McKeown and Oliwer Kaski. Kaski and McKeown are likely done after this year with the Carolina Hurricanes, and Honka is a little too young and raw and would likely need a year in the AHL before getting a crack at the NHL roster.

The real name to watch here is Joey Keane. Acquired in the trade that sent fan-favorite Julien Gauthier to the New York Rangers, Keane was (and still is) a highly touted blueliner. In his first year in the AHL, which was 2019-2020, he had 37 points in 58 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack and the Charlotte Checkers. This year, in limited action as he has been up and down with the Chicago Wolves, he has 8 points in 13 games with all 8 of the points being assists.

The problem with trying to use Keane in the Dougie Hamilton top-pairing role, is that he doesn’t play that style. His development path, at least from what I’ve seen in his time with the Chicago Wolves, is more of a two-way game a la former Hurricane Haydn Fleury.

Draft wise, there are some solid options in Carson Lambos, Brandt Clarke, Luke Hughes, Owen Power, Daniil Chayka and Corson Ceulemans. But none to most of those guys are a.) going to be on the board when the Canes pick and b.) NHL-ready.

This brings me to the overall point of this whole article. Offensive-minded right-handed defensemen don’t grow on trees anymore, and the Carolina Hurricanes have one of the best ones in the league. Losing him for nothing doesn’t make a ton of sense, given the other options available around the league that are up for grabs. Term and money is going to be a roadblock, but at this moment, it would be absolutely stupid to let Dougie Hamilton walk in free agency.