Dougie Hamilton took a lot of heat for his play last season - particularly during the first half - but I think a lot of it was unwarranted.
Admittedly there was an adjustment period coming over from Boston but he played a lot better than he was given credit for.
Many have been talking about Hamilton having a 'bounce back year' this season but that sounds pretty ridiculous if you look at the numbers.
In terms of point production he was fantastic. Only 15 defensemen scored more goals than Hamilton while just 22 tallied more points. It's also worth noting every single blue liner ahead of him in both categories averaged more minutes per game so they had more opportunity to get on the scoresheet.
Hamilton's season was pretty good when you look at the underlying numbers, too. His on-ice goals for percentage wasn't great (~45%) but it's almost impossible to break even when the goaltending behind you is terrible, which it certainly was as no team had a worse save percentage at 5 v 5. The Flames controlled more of the shot attempts with Hamilton on the ice than without him, too, so it's not as if he was bringing the team down.
What's really impressive about is that Hamilton posted positive relative numbers (in terms of shot attempts) despite spending 42% of his 5 v 5 minutes anchored by Kris Russell.
As you can see Hamilton's numbers in each category were better without Russell. The zone starts with Russell and without Russell were almost identical, too, so his numbers weren't a result of being spoon fed offensive zone starts and softer minutes.
Who Hamilton spends most of his time partnered with in 2016-17 remains to be seen but it almost certainly won't be Russell. His numbers should see a boost as a result.
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