State Your Case: Hamilton or Burns on your team?

It's important to have reliable, dependable defensemen on your side.

The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes, who face each other at PNC Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ESPN+, HULU) each have several, including top-notch veterans, Dougie Hamilton for the Devils and Brent Burns for the Hurricanes.
Hamilton has 34 points (nine goals, 25 assists) in 40 games and Burns has 28 points (five goals, 23 assists) in 40 games.
Each is important to his respective team but who would you rather have on your team? That's the question before NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen and staff writer Tracey Myers in this installment of State Your Case.
Myers:As great as Burns has been for the Hurricanes, and I admit, I wasn't sure how much he had left, I'm still taking Hamilton. Part of it is the youth factor: Hamilton is 29 and Burns will turn 38 on March 9. Give me the young legs every time, especially as we get closer to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when you don't know how long games will last. A lot of their stats are close, so hard to argue between the two on those, but I'm going to try anyway. Hamilton has 17 power-play points, tied for most on the Devils with forward Jesper Bratt and he's a big part of a unit that's gaining traction again with New Jersey having at least one power-play goal in four of its past five games. This is a tough argument between two steady players but I'm taking the steady, younger player.

Rosen:Your argument about taking the younger player holds a lot of water and makes a lot of sense … in most cases. This isn't one of those cases. Burns is a bit of a freak of nature. I'd argue that few players in the NHL are in as good of shape as Burns, and arguably fewer have the ability to play all day and night. Burns doesn't miss time. He has played 719 consecutive games, 10th in NHL history and second among active players behind Vegas Golden Knights forward Phil Kessel (1,024). Maybe even more impressive is the fact that Burns has played an average of 24:31 per game during the streak. Oh, and he has 557 points (153 goals, 404 assists). So, to recap, he's available pretty much all the time, he's productive and he can skate all night long. Now that's steady.
Myers:No argument here on the freak of nature known as Burns. Hamilton hasn't missed many games due to injury, but perhaps that's my next argument: how he's come back from injuries. Last season it was a broken jaw (I'm wincing just typing that) and he returned to play his usual minutes. He played at least 19 minutes per game the rest of the season except for one game, 18:34 against the Dallas Stars on April 9. Can't be easy. Oh, and here's another area where Hamilton gets marks with me: He's playing for his fourth NHL team and his production and minutes have remained steady. Think about it: different teams, different playing partners, different responsibilities. It can't be an easy adjustment, but Hamilton has done it.

Rosen: Sorry, Tracey, but it's time for the knockout blow. With due respect to Hamilton, a heck of a player, Burns is everything you want in a leader, a play driver and a dressing room character. He sets the example with his work ethic. His drive in the gym and on the ice is the stuff of legend. He brings levity to the room with his gregarious personality. He brings it every shift of every game on the ice -- and I mean every single game. The Hurricanes are thrilled to have him. How do I know? I asked their captain, Jordan Staal, about Burns on an episode of the
"NHL @TheRink" podcast
last week. Staal pretty much makes my argument for me with this perspective on Burns: "He's brought some energy for sure, and he's a fun guy to be around. Obviously, a very interesting man. He's definitely a jokester in the room and brings some life to the room, but also his game is hard, heavy. He wants to win. He wants to be the best. He wants to help the team. He's the perfect guy who can step in a room and really just fit right in. The way he creates offense, and his shot has been a huge help for our back end." Hamilton checks a lot of boxes, but Burns checks them all. I'll take him on my team all day, every day.