Fans of the Boston Bruins searching desperately for some type of legitimate reasoning behind new GM Don Sweeney's decision to flip young franchise defenseman Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for limited compensation just prior to the first-round of the 2015 NHL Draft, may need to look no further.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet indicated while appearing on Sportsnet's Calgary 590, via Chris Nichols, that Sweeney and the Bruins were concerned that former Boston GM Peter Chiarelli and the Edmonton Oilers were going to submit an offer sheet for Hamilton.
Per Friedman, Sweeney felt "trapped" and that he needed to make a move, presumably as quickly as possible, hence the trade that sent Hamilton, one of the Bruins' most promising young assets, to the Calgary Flames in exchange for just three picks - No.'s 15, 45 and 52 in the 2015 NHL Draft.
This, of course, isn't the first time the notion of a Hamiltion offer sheet by Chiarelli was floated. HNGN passed along a report in June that the defensively-needy Oilers were said to be sniffing around the offensive-minded defenseman.
For the Bruins, Hamilton's development and ascension to the top pairing alongside captain Zdeno Chara in 2014 seemed to point to a long and fruitful future with the Bruins, but the team's tight cap situation - ironically the result of a bevy of poor decisions by Chiarelli - left Boston in a difficult spot with only $6.5 million to their name.
Of course, the eventual deal Hamilton signed with the Flames - six years, $34.5 million, AAV of $5.75 million, which is only about $1 million off from what the Bruins was reportedly offering - seemed to indicate that money wasn't the issue for Hamilton in Boston and that both sides simply needed a change. Interestingly, a report emerged after the draft that teams were upset with Sweeney because they were not made aware that Hamilton was available before the Bruins pulled the trigger on the trade with the Flames.
As for Edmonton, Chiarelli focused much of his early rebuilding efforts on his own zone. The team traded for Cam Talbot and added Griffin Reinhart from the New York Islanders. Reinhart now joins a crowded group of young blueliners, along with Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom, on the cusp of making the jump to the NHL for the Oilers organization.
While there's no doubt that Chiarelli was likely champing at the bit to add Hamilton, a player he'd drafted in the first-round only a few short seasons ago, and that the Bruins and Sweeney likely wish they'd done better in terms of trade compensation for their former first-round pick, the Flames and GM Brad Treliving, who have quietly gone about improving an already talented young team this offseason, seem to be the happy beneficiaries of all the personnel posturing.
