Entering the 2025-26 season, Dougie Hamilton was considered purely one-dimensional: a weapon in the offensive zone while being a liability in his own end. Questions about his defensive effort were commonplace, with a general understanding that he was responsible for puck watching, poorly timed pinches, and breakout attempts that went directly onto the sticks of forecheckers.
Enter Brad Shaw, who entered the role of assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils in the 2025 offseason, joining the team last July. He would be put in charge of the defensemen and penalty kill, with a reputation of being one of the best defensive minds in the NHL.
During his time in the same role with the Philadelphia Flyers, Shaw oversaw the complete turnaround of Rasmus Ristolainen, who was once regarded as one of the worst defensemen in the league and is now a more-than-serviceable two-way option as a second-pair defenseman. He also oversaw major defensive development from Jamie Drysdale, Cam York, and Emil Andrae. Players like Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Seth Jones had their best analytical seasons with Shaw in charge of the defense of their respective teams. He is directly responsible for Zach Werenski's development into a top-tier NHL defenseman.
2025-26 was Shaw's first season with the Devils, and in just one year, he transformed the way Hamilton approached playing defense.
According to HockeyStats' microstat player cards, Hamilton graded out quite well on the defensive front. He ranked in the 85th percentile for zone entry denial rate, the 64th percentile for defensive zone puck retrievals, and the 52nd percentile for breakout success rate, far better than what was expected.
Evolving Hockey was equally high on the near-33-year-old. Among the 312 defensemen to log at least 50 minutes of playing time in 2025-26, Hamilton ranked 52nd in defensive expected goals above replacement (xGAR), second among blueliners on the Devils behind only Brenden Dillon. He ranked above the likes of Philip Broberg, Matt Roy, and Mattias Ekholm, all of whom are conventionally thought of as defensive stalwarts.
Dougie Hamilton has become a defensive asset under Brad Shaw
This defensive surge came on the back of the most difficult deployment of Hamilton's career. Up until his healthy scratching in early January, he was starting in the defensive zone 58.02% of the time and primarily against opposing top lines and defense pairings. Despite that, Hamilton's expected goals against per hour (xGA/60) was second-best among regular defensemen, narrowly behind Brenden Dillon, who was given third-pair minutes against lesser competition.
None of this defensive development came at the expense of what has always made Hamilton a first-pair caliber rearguard: his offensive game. Hamilton led the Devils' blue line in expected goals for per hour (xGF/60) and ended the season 20th in the NHL in offensive xGAR among defensemen. For those wondering, that's the 94th percentile of the league.
It's a good thing that the Devils are keeping their three main coaches in the organization entering 2026-27, and especially great that Shaw is sticking around. He transformed the Devils' biggest defensive liability into a two-way asset in just one season -- imagine what he can do for the entire defense corps with more time.
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