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Hockyluv21

Member Since
Mar 20, 2019
Favourite Team
Carolina Hurricanes
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Forum Posts
2711
Posts per Day
3.13
Forum Threads
666
Forum: NHL SigningsWed at 6:45 pm
Thread: New Jersey Devils signed Dougie Hamilton (7 Years / $9,000,000 AAV)
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>MelonVK</b></div><div>Sure. It's a hard but not impossible task. I think you'd be disappointed in both Laines and Tarasenkos respective abilities to drive offense, rather than finishing it. In the other hand, a team like Carolina could probably take advantage of pure shooters considering how they already tilt the ice. Svechnikov is doing incredibly there, although he's also better at keeping possession.</div></div>

I mean, here's the thing. Carolina needs high-end finishers more than anything right now, especially because DeAngelo does have a history of being elite offensively from the back end. Laine would be a great fit for that reason alone. Stick him with the Finns and do a ton of damage.
Forum: NHL SigningsWed at 6:36 pm
Thread: New Jersey Devils signed Dougie Hamilton (7 Years / $9,000,000 AAV)
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>MelonVK</b></div><div>Hedman isn't better than Hamilton. He's cashing in on not only the best power play in the league, but the best offensive unit we've seen in the cap era. The Canes on the other hand are dominated by defensive forwards up front. We don't even have to argue more - you can just watch the Canes turn back into Minnesota-west and the Devils take their first strides towards playoff hockey in years.</div></div>

I mean, DeAngelo before the controversy was an analytics darling of his own on the offensive end. It wouldn't shock me if they paired him with Slavin and try to work similar magic in a Moneyball sort of way. It also wouldn't shock me if the Hurricanes replace a lot of the lost offensive value from Dougie into the forward group with Tarasenko or Laine.
Forum: NHL SigningsWed at 6:09 pm
Thread: New Jersey Devils signed Dougie Hamilton (7 Years / $9,000,000 AAV)
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>MelonVK</b></div><div>I just think it rings hollow as any defenseman is better with a good partner. I have no reason to believe Dougie is in greater need of one than anyone else is. As pointed out in my last reply - if anything he does the things really well to carry a less offensively gifted defenseman next to him.</div></div>

There are some defensemen out there that are outstanding players no matter who their partners are. I look at Tampa's entire left side as the primary example of such a setup. They ran Hedman with Jan Rutta and Sergachev with an adjusting slow starter in David Savard all postseason and both still delivered the goods to a second straight cup. That's the kind of cash that Hamilton is getting paid to deliver, and as long as that left side is still weak, IDK if that cash spent will be worth it.
Forum: NHL SigningsWed at 5:58 pm
Thread: New Jersey Devils signed Dougie Hamilton (7 Years / $9,000,000 AAV)
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>MelonVK</b></div><div>That's because anyone is a disappointment next to Russell. Dougie carried the guys I mentioned, I have the receipts for it. You saying he's "complementary" doesn't mean he is. If anything Slavin is complementary to Dougie, because Hamiltons possession abilities has improved every defensive defenseman numbers next to him. Slavin *can* play defense because Dougie makes sure possession is on their side most of the time.

Your example helps me if anything - it's the literal embodiment of Russell as a player; if he had Dougies puck playing abilities he'd be a useful defenseman, or even a good one. Instead all he does is block one shot to have opponents take the next one. When Slavin blocks Dougie turns the play around. It's the rarest and most important quality a defenseman can have, the ability to turn defense into offense. No one cares how many shots you prevent if you make sure there are more of them to prevent in the first place.</div></div>

I'm also, in effect, pointing out that New Jersey's left side of the defense skews more like Kris Russell than Jaccob Slavin. This is objectively true outside of Ty Smith, but even he's pretty raw. And even so, Carolina has effectively swapped Hamilton for DeAngelo, who (love or hate) is the only non-Hamilton defenseman on the UFA market that actually drives offense at 5-on-5 and the power play. I think New Jersey made a huge splash with some risks (as I pointed out) but could pay off. I'm just saying that the roster structure matters with Hamilton. Both Carolina and Calgary had elite LH defensemen in Slavin and Giordano and New Jersey doesn't.
Forum: NHL SigningsWed at 5:38 pm
Thread: New Jersey Devils signed Dougie Hamilton (7 Years / $9,000,000 AAV)
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>MelonVK</b></div><div>You're so wrong. Dougie changed the trajectories of all teams he joined and left. Sent Boston into a re-tool by leaving, Calgary towards the top of the Pacific and back into purgatory when he left. Carolina from breaking playoff-missing records to a true contender.

He's more consistent than any other top D. He's been this good for years while others have fallen off. Giordano and Slavin post *way worse* individual numbers away from Dougie. Their respective corsies go from 57-58% to below 50 without him. The only way Dougie requires an elite partner is by turning whoever's playing next to him into one.

One of the best defensemen this millennium is playing in front of you're eyes and you're missing it due to a narrative you can debunk with 2 stat points.</div></div>

Slavin was always as good as he was before playing with Hamilton. They worked well together for a reason. It was a yin and yang partnership. The issue is that Hamilton is a great complementary player but not someone that could carry a lesser defenseman on his pairing. The latter is what you should expect to pay for $9M/year and something that Hedman, Fox, Makar, and the like can do. If Ty Smith or Luke Hughes develop into a Slavin-esque stabilizer in the coming seasons, then great for New Jersey. If you pair him with a Kris Russell, though, like Calgary tried to do at one point, get ready for some disappointment.

Also, your claims for an account that says "watches no games" is a really big problem.