The NHL Network has been panned in the past when it comes to its annual rankings. To be fair, any ranking they would put out there would make multiple fanbases upset. However, there was one snub of a New Jersey Devils player this week that might have caught some fans completely off guard.
After many years of being on the list, Dougie Hamilton was left off the list. He had a high finish in the Norris Trophy voting in 2020-21 with the Carolina Hurricanes but had some adjusting to do in his first year with the New Jersey Devils in 2021-22.
Was it a bad year for Hamilton in his first year with the team? Absolutely not. However, he had a tough first year based on expectations and the fact that he broke his jaw and toe which clearly impacted him. We know what he can do when he is healthy and feeling good about his game.
Throughout the season, Hamilton played in 62 games. Those 20 games he missed felt like a lot as the team took a dip without him. When he came back, he wasn’t the same player and the team needed that elite defenseman on the back end.
The New Jersey Devils want to see their best players be their best players.
In those 62 games played, he had some good advanced stats at times but only put up 9 goals and 21 assists for 30 points. That isn’t terrible by any means, but they need a lot more than that. Expect a big year for him.
He knows that he was snubbed off this list and is going to do what he can to get back on it. With a clean bill of health and another year of experience on this team in this city, he should be good to go.
There are no defensemen on the list that made it that are unworthy either. Of course, Cale Makar, Victor Hedman, Roman Josi, Adam Fox, and Charlie McAvoy are the top five in that order.
There are also some other really good defensemen featured on there like Kristopher Letang, Devon Toews, and Brent Burns among others. There is no shortage of good defensemen on the list but it would be nice to see Hamilton get back on it soon.
Jack Hughes’ older brother Quinn made the list at number 12 which is not a bad score at all. We can only hope that younger brother Luke gets on there one day as well. If Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton are both on this list simultaneously, there will be some good times in New Jersey.