The Boston Bruins used their first-round pick on a defenseman for the first time since 2005 (Matt Lashoff, 22nd overall) tonight with their No. 9 overall pick.

With the the pick they received from Toronto via Phil Kessel trade (officially putting that trade to bed now) the B’s selected, from Niagra, OHL, blueliner Dougie Hamilton.

DOB: June 17, 1993
Shoots: Right
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 193 lbs.
Team: OHL Niagra Ice Dogs

For more on Hamilton, I recommend checking out Chris Ralph on hockeyspy.blogspot, as well as TheHockeyWriters.com

OK, let’s talk hockey now. Dougie Hamilton is one scary dude at 6’5” and is still adding height and weight plus he skates with a real powerful stride. Are you interested so far? Now let’s add a big time shot from the point and an aggressive rusher. Hmm, sounding pretty good, don’t you agree? Now add a physical presence that is just starting to blossom along with that first pass that is so fresh that it still has the dew on it. OK, OK, you say, stop the titillation, what else is there? How about, the body of an athlete, the intelligence of a professor, the leadership of a winner and the work ethic of a family of high achievers and you are stating to get some semblance of why Dougie is so highly prized in this year’s draft.

And the always great Kirk Luedeke:

Projection: Solid No. 2 potential and possible No. 1 if he continues to develop and gets a lot stronger. Has the fluidity and puck skills to be a point-getter at the highest level along with the size to play a shutdown role and be a dual-threat. There is a lot to like about Hamilton but not everyone is a fan. This kid will have to go out and prove it at the next level, but honestly- given all he’s accomplished, is there any real reason to doubt him?

My opinion? I don’t know nearly enough about these prospect as I should, so I won’t pretend that I do by saying ‘good pick/bad pick.’ But one thing I can say is prefer the Jim Rutherford approach when drafting defensemen, especially in the first-round: “Defensemen take so long to develop, by the time they’re any good they’re already free agents.”