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Dougie Hamilton

Pacific Notes: Hamilton, Arizona Injuries, Virtanen

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While the suggestion over the weekend that Calgary defenseman Dougie Hamilton caught many by surprise, TSN’s Darren Dreger suggested to a Montreal ‘s TSN690 that his name has been out there for a little while now (transcription from FanRag’s Chris Nichols):

That rumor has been fairly consistent. It really has. I can think back to the draft in Buffalo, where Dougie Hamilton’s name had surfaced at that point. He’s one of those guys, right or wrong, that always seems to have that lure about him or carry the possibility that a trade could be in the future again.”

While Hamilton has played fairly well with Calgary – he set a career high in points last season and leads all Flames blueliners in scoring this year – he carries a cap hit of $5.75MM for five more years.  While that’s a fair market price for a top four defender, the Flames are spending nearly $27MM on their back end currently (and that doesn’t include $3.5MM for Ladislav Smid who’s on long-term injured reserve).  In theory, moving an area of positional strength to fill a hole or two makes sense.

If Calgary were to move Hamilton, they should have no shortage of suitors as most teams are always on the lookout for a top four defenseman.  Dreger feels they should have no issue moving him if they do decide to go that route:

“And there’s a premium market right now for defense. That seems to be the case on an annual basis. So if Calgary gets to a stage where they want to make that move, I don’t think it’s going to be a huge issue finding Hamilton another address.”

In the meantime, as we learned yesterday, the Flames are shopping a couple of veterans in defenseman Deryk Engelland and forward Lance Bouma but haven’t had much interest in either player just yet.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • The Coyotes are close to getting a pair of key veterans back as goaltender Mike Smith and center Martin Hanzal both skated on Monday, notes Sarah McLellan of The Arizona Republic. Head coach Dave Tippett is optimistic that both players should be back in the lineup this week.  Smith has been out since October 18th with a lower body issue while Hanzal has missed five straight games, also due to a lower body injury.
  • After recalling Jake Virtanen from his two game ‘conditioning stint’, the Canucks don’t plan to have him in the lineup right away, writes Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province. The team is looking for him to play with more intensity and consistency after a slow start this season that has seen him record just one assist through ten games.  Vancouver also provided a couple of injury updates.  Defenseman Chris Tanev will miss another ten days with a foot injury while right winger Jannik Hansen will be out for another three weeks with a fractured rib.

Snapshots: Islanders, Bickell, Hamilton

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Travis Hamonic is a tough player to play against, and it turns out he’s also a tough player to keep out of the lineup.

Eight days ago, the Islanders announced Hamonic would miss between 4-6 weeks with an upper body injury. Despite that prognosis, Hamonic will dress on Monday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. That’s a total of three games missed.

Islanders coach Jack Capuano told Arthur Staple and other reporters that the team would dress seven defensemen tonight, scratching forwards Alan Quine and Shane Prince.

Hamonic isn’t the only Islanders defenseman battling injury. Dennis Seidenberg was placed on Injured Reserve with an upper body injury, which Staple believes is a broken jaw. It’s a tough break for Seidenberg, who has been a success in Brooklyn after being bought out by the Bruins. Seidenberg has a nice statline, with 4 goals and 4 assists and a +10 rating in 15 games.

  • Carolina Hurricanes winger Bryan Bickell spoke to Chris Hine from the Chicago Tribune about his recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, telling Hine that he’s “just uncertain.” He says doctors were able to catch the disease “early in its progression” and he hopes to be able to return later this season. Bickell would not be the first NHLer to play with MS: Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding was diagnosed early in the 2012-13 season but went on to play for parts of two more seasons. Hine quoted Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews as hoping Bickell can “find ways to stay strong.”
  • Calgary Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton has already experienced his fair share of trade rumors during his time with the Boston Bruins. He was ultimately traded to Calgary for a first round pick and a pair of second round picks at the 2015 NHL Draft. Hamilton had a career-year in his first season with the Flames, but has just six points in 16 games this season, with half of those coming in just one game; he’s pointless and -10 in his last seven games. The Flames have not been good this year, with just five wins in 16 games. Two nights ago on Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet analyst Nick Kypreos reported that several teams have called Flames GM Brad Treliving to see about the big right-handed defenseman’s availability. Kypreos said he doesn’t “suggest for one second that Calgary is shopping this guy, but there are some teams inquiring.” He suggested Arizona and Pittsburgh have made calls about Hamilton. The Coyotes would love to have a big right-handed defenseman to compliment Oliver Ekman-Larsson, while the Penguins would just like to improve their defense. Hamilton told Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun that he saw Kypreos’ report, but that trade rumors are “part of the game” and the latest round is “just a distraction, if anything.”

Pacific Division Notes: Flames, Canucks, Oilers

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The Calgary Flames have struggled in the early stretches of this season, and some of their fans have found a scapegoat: “The Wideman Effect”.

The belief is that since January 2016, when Dennis Wideman ran linesman Don Henderson from behind, ending the latter’s career, the referees have been biased against the Flames. Despite the catchy name, it appears that the perception just isn’t true. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector broke down the penalties called in the 47 games before the incident and the 46 since. While the Flames did see a nearly 50 per cent increase in penalties last season after the attack, they still spent more time on the power-play. Moving to this season, the Flames are the second-most penalized team in the NHL after the Bruins. But they’ve also had the fifth-most power-play opportunities of any team.

Fans can look no further than the struggles of Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, and Brian Elliott, and some questionable lineup choices on the blue line. Fresh off signing new contracts for $6.375MM and $6,75MM respectively, Monahan and Gaudreau have combined for just 11 points through 12 games. That’s eight less than last season at this time.

Elliott was traded for to stabilize the Flames wretched goaltending from last season, and so far has a sub-900 save percentage and a GAA over 3. Backup Chad Johnson has been better, but is still below league-average.

Finally, the Flames new coach Glen Gulutzan’s usage of Dougie Hamilton has been weird this season. Hamilton scored 43 points last season while playing just under 20-minutes per game, but has fallen below 19 minutes this season and has been playing third-pairing at even-strength with lesser players.

  • It has been an ugly stretch for the Canucks, who have lost seven games in a row after starting 4-0-0. They’ve fallen from first in the NHL to 26th. Even worse, the Canucks have scored just seven goals in that stretch and have been shutout in four of their last five games. The Blue Jackets outscored the Canucks’ entire losing streak in 38-minutes on Friday night, and they weren’t even done yet. Coach Willie Desjardins said he believes in their players and thinks they can turn it around, despite admitting this season’s losing has been tough on him. Desjardins is on the hot seat, considering GM Jim Benning believes the Canucks are a playoff team. However, Benning may not be entirely accurate in that belief: the Canucks are averaging just 1.45 goals-per-game, nearly a goal-and-a-half less than the league-average. Most prognosticators have the Canucks pegged as a real contender, not for the playoffs, but for the best draft lottery odds.
  • Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers are sitting in first in the Western Conference after a hot start. They’ve cooled down a little, going 0-2-1 in the last week. Spector echoed a common sentiment about the team: if they can get their hands on a legit point-threat for their floundering power-play, then watch out. The Oilers were linked to Kevin Shattenkirk, P.K. Subban and Tyson Barrie over the summer, and more recently pending-UFA Brent Burns. In his article, Spector suggests Jason Garrison might be available in Tampa Bay as a cap casualty, though he’s another lefty; when healthy, five of the Oilers top-six defenders are left-handed.

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