The potential of the Edmonton Oilers and one-time Bruins GM and current Oilers head of personnel, Peter Chiarelli, submitting an offer sheet for Boston defenseman Dougie Hamilton has already been discussed at length.
Hamilton is a young restricted free agent who just now seems to be finding firm footing as an elite offensive defenseman in the NHL. He was also a former high first-round pick by Chiarelli. In short, the connection and the notion of an offer sheet makes some sense.
Now though, another idea has been floated by an NHL Insider concerning Hamilton's NHL and Bruins future.
According to TSN's Darren Dreger, a Hamilton trade has been discussed by the Bruins new brass and, among the teams said to be interested, are the Edmonton Oilers.
"So teams I know have already talked to Boston about the potential of a trade," Dreger said, while appearing on Edmonton's TSN 1260, via TodaysSlapShot.com. "I'd be surprised if the Oilers aren't in on that. And I'm confident in saying that if there isn't a trade and a more amicable way to do it, why wouldn't Peter Chiarelli throw down the offer sheet on someone like Dougie Hamilton.
"When he talks about not wanting to trade the 16th pick overall, I think that if the right defenseman is available, then it soon changes a little bit for sure."
There's simply no doubting that beyond the goaltending spot, defense is Chiarelli's biggest need as he attempts to turn around a once-proud Oilers franchise that hasn't qualified for the postseason since they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2005-06.
Darnell Nurse is young and talented. So is Oscar Klefbom. And Justin Shultz is pretty well established as a top-tier defenseman, but beyond that there's little in the way of up-and-coming talent on the blueline for Chiarelli.
As a restricted free agent, Hamilton's salary for the 2015-16 season is dependent on NHL comparables, determined by his agent at CAA, J.P. Barry, and the Bruins. According to Dreger, the comp most often associated with Hamilton is St. Louis Blues defender Alex Pietrangelo - something which could ultimately factor into the decision-making for new Bruins GM Don Sweeney on his young blueliner.
"And then again, you have to - CAA does their work based on a percentage basis," said Dreger. "What is the salary cap. Well, when Pietrangelo signed his deal with the St. Louis Blues, it was a $64.3 million cap. Now, it's projecting or will be 71.4 next year. So what's the percentage for Dougie Hamilton? And is that going to be too much for the Boston Bruins to handle?"
At present, the Bruins have approximately $6.4 million in space after the new cap ceiling of $71.4 million was announced this week. That leaves little wiggle room, even before Hamilton's new deal is hammered out.
Pietrangelo, 25, has now been in the NHL for parts of seven seasons. Over the last four years, he's turned himself into an extremely well-rounded player. He finished the 2014-15 regular season with seven goals, 39 assists and averaged over 25-minutes of ice time.
Hamilton, 22, has three years of NHL experience to his name. During a down season for Boston last year, he managed 10 goals, 32 assists and averaged 21:20 of ice time.
While Pietrangelo does have a longer track record of consistent NHL success, there's no doubting the similarities in their game - they both possess the puck well and push up ice, helping to control the pace of play. Hamilton's move up to the top-pairing alongside Zdeno Chara last season certainly has to up his value in the eyes of folks around the league and especially his agent.
Pietrangelo signed a seven-year, $45.5 million contract with the Blues in 2013. The deal carries an annual cap hit of $6.5 million.
While there's zero chance a player with less NHL experience to his name would garner the same type of deal, there's also no denying that Hamilton has become one of the best young players on an aging Bruins team - Sweeney, speaking after the NHL owner's meetings in Las Vegas this week, referred to Hamilton as a "foundational player."
Since Hamilton made $832,500 in salary for last season, the Bruins qualifying offer must represent at least 105 percent of his 2014-15 salary, but considering Barry is looking at Pietrangelo as a comp, it's highly unlikely that offer will be accepted.
In the end, the Bruins and Sweeney are facing a difficult cap road ahead and the 2015 NHL Draft tomorrow night may represent their first opportunity to shed some salary and give themselves flexibility moving forward.
While it seems farfetched that any changes would include a rising star like Hamilton, in this salary cap world, nothing can be fully ruled out.
