Back in the summer of 2021, Dougie Hamilton was seen as one of the prized free agent targets available to be signed, possibly even the highest prized. While rumors were rampant throughout free agency’s opening, word eventually got out that apparently Hamilton was going to be heading to New Jersey. I remember it taking a while to be completely confirmed, but the Devils had indeed gotten their man, with Dougie joining on a seven year, $63 million deal. Defense was still a work in progress for the Devils of that time, and signing Hamilton went a long way to strengthening that group, as well as complementing the young core that was now beginning to take shape.
Hamilton’s debut year with the Devils was…okay. The defense group he joined was much stronger than prior years, but 2021-22 was the year that the Devils goaltending all but imploded between injuries and inconsistency. Hamilton continued to be a big minute eater for the Devils as he had been for the Carolina Hurricanes prior. HIs point output, however, dipped to only 30, his lowest total since back in his sophomore season for the Boston Bruins in 2013-14. While he was important for his overall play, teams don’t go and spend $9 million for a 30 point guy.
Call it a season to get comfortable with his new team. Call it whatever magic the 2022-23 team had. Whatever you want to say, Professor Douglas D. Admin came to be a FORCE that season.
2022-23 will certainly be remembered for a variety of reasons: the highest point total in season history, Jack Hughes coming a point away from 100, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt each potting 30 goals, the list goes on. But what shouldn’t be lost among those accolades is Hamilton putting up a hefty 74 points while appearing in all 82 contests. Breaking his previous career high in points by 24, Dougie looked every bit like a $9 million player and then some. While he struggled a bit in the playoffs (4 points in 12 games, -11) his goal in overtime of Game 3 of the first round gave the Devils their first playoff win since 2018 and arguably was part of what propelled them to their first postseason series win since 2012.
Unfortunately, 2023-24 followed. Hamilton started off hot with 16 points in 20 contests, but would suffer a pectoral injury in Game 20; he would be lost for the remainder of that season, which saw the Devils disappointingly miss the postseason. He would return for this previous campaign, and while he would miss a chunk of it (18 games) Hamilton had a sneaky good 40 points in 64 games. He would again not have the greatest postseason, but outside of Nico, Bratt, and maybe Meier and Nemec for his double OT winner, which Devils player did?
Despite being viewed as a trade candidate, Hamilton currently sits on the Devils roster as of time of writing. Obviously things can change between now and the start of the season, but I don’t think that will be the case. 2024-25 was seen as a disappointment from Hamilton, and I think that’s due in part to the fact that he scored 34 fewer points than the last season where he played the majority of it. At the same time, 40 points is fairly consistent with much of his career scoring. And most of the other seasons of his career where he hit or broke 40 points, he appeared in more games than he did in 2024-25 as well. Maybe the question shouldn’t be if he can return to form after all; maybe it’s more of can he return to that 2022-23 form?
A lot of Devils fans seem willing to cast Hamilton off and look at him as a cap anchor, a player producing too little for his cap hit and preventing the team from making forward progress. Yet I think the more I analyzed his stats and his career as I wrote this, I think the debate above needs to be separated from the original question. No, I don’t think Hamilton has another 74 point season in him. He’s a couple years older, had surgery on his pectoral muscle (which absolutely affected his shot at times this past season) and has other defenders who have surpassed him on the depth chart. But we can’t pretend 40 points in 64 games (51 point pace across 82 games) is useless either. I get the concept from some fans of moving him to reallocate his cap dollars elsewhere, but he’s not the black hole that other fans make him out to be either.
Dougie Hamilton may be exiting his prime. Heck, father time is always undefeated when it comes to pro athletes’ careers…and to us all, really. Yet, part of me thinks Dougie Hamilton isn’t done yet. Maybe he does get traded next summer prior to the last year of his contract as I’ve talked about before. But this season? I think we might just have one more big surge from Douglas.
And maybe it leads to one big surge for the 2025-26 New Jersey Devils.
What are your thoughts on the potential for Dougie Hamilton to bounce back; do you think he’s a 40 (or fewer) points per season player going forward? Do you think he’s got one more huge season similar to 2023-24 in him? Are you worried about his availability more than his point total for the upcoming season? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!