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What character concerns? Treliving has ‘slept like a baby’ since Hamilton trade

Boston Bruins v Ottawa Senators

Dougie Hamilton

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Not long after the inevitable “Dougie Hamilton was disliked!” stories came out of Boston, Hamilton’s new boss -- Flames GM Brad Treliving -- shot down any notion the young d-man was arriving in Calgary with character concerns.

From the Sun:

“I’m not going to comment on any anonymous people out there, but we’ve done our homework — thorough homework — both on the player and the person, and we are over-the-moon excited about the player and the person that we’re getting,” Treliving said. “We think he’s going to fit like a glove — on and off the ice — with us.

“This type of player doesn’t come around very often at this age. You’re talking about a very intelligent kid. He’s a 98% student. He won the scholastic award (in the Ontario Hockey League in 2011). I like that he’s a very cerebral kid. Smart. Intelligent.

“This doesn’t keep me awake at night. Since the day we got Dougie Hamilton, I’ve had the best sleeps of the past few years. I’ve slept like a baby.”

As if to further hammer home his point, Treliving began negotiating a contract extension with Hamilton’s agent, J.P. Barry, before the club made its perfunctory qualifying offer on Monday. If you’re wondering what the figures might look like, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Boston’s offer to Hamilton was for $33 million over six years -- a $5.5M annual cap hit -- while the counter was “about $2M per year higher.”

In that light, it’ll be really curious to see what number Calgary settles on -- especially given what else the club needs to do this summer.

Treliving’s on record saying his biggest priority of the offseason was an extension with another key defenseman, team captain Mark Giordano, and early rumblings suggest the Giordano camp has opened negotiations with an eye-popping ask of $9 million per season.

Could be a spendy July in Calgary.