Flames trade seventh round pick for Dougie Hamilton’s brother, Freddie

The Hamiltons are a rather athletic family. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, Doug Hamilton, a rower, met Lynn Hamilton, a basketball player. Together, they had two sons: Freddie Hamilton, born on Jan. 1, 1992; and Dougie Hamilton, born June 17, 1993.

Freddie was drafted in the fifth round, 129th overall, by the San Jose Sharks in the 2010 NHL entry draft. Dougie, on the other hand, was drafted in the first round, ninth overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 2011 NHL entry draft. Dougie joined the Flames in June 2015; now, Freddie is a member of the same team as of today: the Flames gave up a conditional 2016 seventh round pick to acquire him.

Dougie, a defenceman, is easily the better player. Freddie, a centre, has not exactly been successful in the top league. Freddie made his NHL debut in the 2013-14 season, and has played 29 games thus far. He has one goal for his efforts, and has averaged just 8:37 of ice time over his NHL career to date.

Last season, he played one game for the Sharks and 17 games for the Colorado Avalanche, and spent the rest of his season splitting time between the Worcester Sharks and Lake Erie Monsters, the teams’ AHL affiliates. He scored 34 points over 57 games in the 2014-15 AHL season: .60 points per game.

With a very full roster of forwards already on the Flames, Freddie was not going to make the team, and indeed, he's been assigned to the Stockton Heat.

So why trade for him? Well… why not? He's Dougie's brother, so that's neat.

“I’m looking forward to being in the same organization as my brother now and seeing what happens.” – Dougie Hamilton on the trade

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 5, 2015

When I asked #Flames D Dougie Hamilton recently to name his hero, Freddie was the answer: “I’ve looked up to him ever since I was little.”

— Wes Gilbertson (@SUNGilbertson) October 5, 2015

He's also put up decent numbers in the AHL, so he should be able to help the team out, at the very least in a depth role. He's also only 23 years old, so it's possible Freddie is simply a late bloomer – but one shouldn't hold their breath in hopes for that.

Still. The Flames ended their last season with no Hamiltons; now, they have two. And two are better than none!

by Ari Yanover