Flames acquire Hamilton in trade
Sunrise, Fla. — The Edmonton Oilers suffered another loss in the Battle of Alberta Friday when the Boston Bruins traded talented young defenceman Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney talked to his old boss Peter Chiarelli about a Hamilton trade with Edmonton.
“There were discussions about draft picks and other things, but at the end of the day there was a different ask,” said Chiarelli, the Oilers GM who refused to say if Boston wanted Darnell Nurse, the Oilers’ best defence prospect.
Hamilton, 22,a former firstround draft pick, would have easily been one of the Oilers’ top two defencemen going forward.
The Flames got Hamilton for their first-round pick (No. 15) and two second-round selections (No. 45 and No. 52).
The Oilers, sources said, offered a similar deal (No. 16, No. 33 and No. 57), but had no interest in Nurse being part of any deal.
There was also the feeling Chiarelli might put in an offer sheet on Hamilton, but Sweeney said they would have matched rather than take compensation.
Chiarelli admitted he’d had talks with other teams before the first round about getting an established defenceman, but nothing came about Friday. Calgary GM Brad Treliving wasn’t trying to hide his excitement at Hamilton’s upside.
“We’re getting a six-footfive, right-shooting defenceman who can move the puck and think, critical components. Love the player’s profile,” Treliving said. “I look at our team with Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Kris Russell, Dennis Wideman, Deryk Engelland and Ladi Smid as he recovers (from neck surgery). I like this defence.”
Chiarelli said several teams came to him for the No. 16 pick in Round 1, offering an established defenceman. St. Louis Blues defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk is reportedly available, but St. Louis and the Oilers didn’t connect. “There was nobody we wanted, better than the one (Griffin Reinhart) we got (for the 16th pick),” he said.
So the Oilers will work at getting a goalie instead of a defenceman.
But trading the 33rd overall pick in Round 2 may have ended their quest for New York Rangers backup goalie Cam Talbot.
Now, they go into Saturday’s Day 2 with just No. 57 in the second round, the pick they got from Montreal Canadiens for Jeff Petry.
“There’s still goalies available in trade and three or four we could sign as free agents. There’s lots of goalies still out there,” said Chiarelli, who said the chances of making a trade for a goalie Saturday as “50-50.”
Robin Lehner has gone to the Buffalo Sabres and Jonathan Quick’s backup Martin Jones and a first-round pick Friday (13th) went from Los Angeles Kings to Boston for Milan Lucic.