The decision by the Boston Bruins and new GM Don Sweeney to trade young stud defenseman Dougie Hamilton just prior to the 2015 NHL Draft has been picked over again and again already, only five short days removed from the actual consummation of the deal.
While reports have emerged in recent days that Hamilton's personality may or may not have played a part in his being shipped out by Sweeney and Co., it's also been suggested that Hamilton's contract demands coupled with the Bruins tight cap situation likely played a more significant role.
Only, according to the latest report, that may not be the case.
"Bruins made offers on 4-5-6 year terms. Best offer to Hamilton was 6 years at $5.5 average. Obviously both sides believed change was best," TSN's Darren Dreger tweeted Tuesday, shortly after the Calgary Flames announced a new contract for Hamilton.
Interestingly, that contract is for six years and $34.5 million; an average annual value of $5.75 million, only slightly above what was reported to be in the Bruins offer.
In short, as Dreger notes, a change likely was sought by at least one, if not both sides, here.
Of course, the sting of the revelation that Hamilton signed a deal very similar to what Boston was offering is made worse by the compensation Sweeney and the rest of the Bruins brass received in return for Hamilton's rights - picks No. 15, 45 and 52 in the 2015 NHL Draft.
The haul was immediately panned by most NHL pundits and now, it looks even worse, as TSN and ESPN NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun indicated recently, via Chris Nichols, that most teams weren't even aware that Hamilton was available.
"I had a number of teams who told me they had no idea he was available and would have offered more," LeBrun said Tuesday.
That's got to be hard to hear for Bruins fans who watched as Hamilton and then power forward Milan Lucic were sent packing by Sweeney within the first few major decisions of his Boston GM tenure. The trade of Martin Jones to the Sharks today certainly sweetens the pot on the Lucic deal - it went from one first-round pick, a defensive prospect and a top back-up in goal to two first-round picks, a top defensive prospect and a forward likely to crack the NHL lineup sometime in the not-too-distant future.
Hamilton on the other hand, was flipped for slightly more than what the team would have received had they simply allowed him to walk away via an offer sheet - Sweeney did well to garner better value than that, but was it good value? That question will remain unanswered for some time.
Fortunately, Bruins fans may not be without an elite offensive defenseman for long, as LeBrun also indicated on Tuesday that the team may make a play for pending unrestricted free agent Mike Green once the NHL market opens on Wednesday.
"Would not surprise me if Boston is among the teams that goes after Mike Green, or certainly a puck-moving defenseman...," LeBrun said, via Nichols.
Green, 29, put together 10 goals and 35 assists in 72 games of work for the Capitals last season. He's an offensive-minded defenseman with good movement and a strong ability to push the pace of player.
He'd likely fit well in a complementary role on the top pairing next to a guy like captain Zdeno Chara for the B's the next couple seasons if they're able to land him. Then again, considering he's likely looking for something in the range of the $6 million annual value his last deal carried, the Bruins, sporting about $7.7 million in salary cap space at present, may simply not be able to pull it off.
