New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton has been having a fabulous season. His first year with his new team shows why he’s worth every penny of his $9 million per year salary. The Devils finally have a top defenseman. He’s been one of the better defenders in the league all year. His offense is right up there with Cale Makar, and he’s lifted Ryan Graves up another level.
The Olympics are right around the corner, and with Hamilton playing this way at a premium position of right defenseman. It seems obvious that he should make the roster. Then, things start to come out. Rumors start to swirl, and it looks like Dougie Hamilton is on the outside looking in.
Latest Team Canada 🇨🇦 #Beijing2022 roster projection from Steve Greeley, as tomorrow marks one month until #NHL decision deadline.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 9, 2021
Out: Mitch Marner, Dougie Hamilton
In: Tom Wilson, Morgan Rielly
Here’s his reasoning on @DailyFaceoff:https://t.co/m6kRyBAmAC
So, this might just be a “projection”, but it’s based on real rumors inside the organization. After this came out, more reporters said they are hearing Tom Wilson could be the choice over Mitch Marner, which is a topic we will let Editor In Leaf handle, but it’s also insane.
The teams should be bringing the best collection of talent to Beijing, China next year. They are overthinking things if they think that Hamilton doesn’t deserve to go over Morgan Rielly. Rielly is a fine player, but he’s not one of the best defensemen in the world anymore. And it’s not like he has a lot of playoff success. He’s on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
There has been talk about Dougie Hamilton’s “attitude” for his entire career. People say he’s not the most vocal guy, and there is the talk of his love for museums. Somehow, that equates to him being a bad teammate and someone you don’t want in the locker room. Maybe he won’t be the guy who goes to the after-hours party, but there is nothing saying he’s not someone who will play a role the team needs from him.
There could be a lot of snubs for Devils players in the Olympics. Yegor Sharangovich is snubbed because he couldn’t carry his Belarus team past qualifiers. Jack Hughes might be left off the list if he’s not able to have a breakout in the next few weeks since he’s likely slotted as a fourth-line center. Mackenzie Blackwood might not make Team Canada as the goalie despite probably being one of the three best at this time. However, leaving Hamilton off the team is just preposterous.
There is still time before Team Canada has to make a final decision, but what would Hamilton have to do from now until then to prove himself? There’s not much else he can do, and Canada likely wants the good Canadian boy playing for the good Canadian team to go to China for the 2022 Olympics. It’s a mistake, and as Americans, we are happy they are making this mistake. We are not happy for Hamilton, who is missing a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but this definitely makes it easier for Team USA to win the gold medal.