The New Jersey Devils have placed defenceman Dougie Hamilton on the injured reserve due to a broken jaw. Hamilton is to undergo surgery Wednesday, says coach Lindy Ruff.
#NEWS: We have the following updates on Nico Hischier (lower-body injury), Dougie Hamilton (broken jaw), Jonathan Bernier (hip surgery), and two players have entered COVID-19 Protocol. https://t.co/OO4Zt528ho
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 4, 2022
Devils Defence Affected By Dougie Hamilton Injury
Dougie Hamilton came over to the Devils in the last off-season, after signing a massive 7-year, $63 million dollar deal. The deal carries an annual cap hit of $9 million dollars and includes a no-movement clause (NMC) for the entirety of the contract. The Devils have had a mediocre start to the 2021-22 season and the club sits seventh in the Metropolitan Division, with a record of 13-15-5.
The star defenceman has appeared in 30 regular-season games so far this season. Hamilton has recorded 7 goals and 13 assists, for 20 points on the year. He’s tied for seventh in goals among all defencemen with seven and 19th for points with 20. If he were to play a full 82 game season, this puts him on pace for 19 goals and 55 points.
A weakness of the Devils blue-line over the past few years was never having a defenceman capable of being a catalyst of the team’s scoring. Signing Hamilton over the summer was also notable to help fix the club’s power-play, which ranked 28th last season. They were operating at 14.19 percent in the men-advantage. Furthermore, young 24-year-old defenceman Jonas Siegenthaler has stepped up and played a huge defensive role on the Devil’s penalty kill.
What this means for the Future
With their top defenceman sidelined, the Devils will take a massive hit as they try and climb back to a record above .500. The Dougie Hamilton injury means P.K. Subban will slide up to the top-pair, playing alongside Ryan Graves. Damon Severson will quarterback the first power-play unit for the Devils in Hamilton’s place.
In addition, Devils captain Nico Hischier is out with a lower-body injury. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier underwent successful hip surgery on Monday and will be out for the rest of the season.
It is not all doom and gloom for New Jersey. The Devils have won three straight games and as star centre, Jack Hughes returned and has aided the team’s push greatly. The Devils will be on the road Tuesday, January 4th, against the Boston Bruins for their next game.
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