When the Bruins returned ninth overall pick Dougie Hamilton to the OHL in training camp, they were sending back a wiry but highly skilled defenseman who was 10 or more pounds away from being ready to potentially contribute at the NHL level. 

Fast forward over a month and Hamilton, who was viewed by most as a steal when he fell to No. 9 in June, is making the OHL his statistical playground. In 11 games played, Hamilton has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) and is on pace to break his own record for points by a Niagara defenseman (58) before the season is even halfway through. Though he’s a defenseman, he’s only one point behind brother Freddie for the Icedogs team lead. Hamilton credits his sizzling start to a better shot, more experience, and the knowledge gained in Boston over the summer.

“It’s the confidence, knowing that when I get an opportunity, I can score,” Hamilton told WEEI.com Monday. “[When you’re inexperienced], you’re kind of worried and doubting yourself maybe. … As you get older and more experienced, you have that confidence when the puck’s on your stick.” 

Bigger numbers don’t stand as the only difference between Hamilton now vs. years past. Niagara coach Marty Williamson coached against Hamilton (he led Barrie before taking the job in Niagara last season) and is in his second year of coaching Hamilton and the Icedogs. Williamson looks at the Hamilton he has now and sees a far safer and smarter player than the one who came to the OHL two years ago after spending time as a forward and defenseman in Bantam hockey. 

“His first year, he was a little bit of a risk-reward player,” Williamson explained of Hamilton, who was drafted by Niagara in the second round in 2009. “He made a lot of great plays, but he also made mistakes. Now he’s been able to limit those mistakes. The last three games that he’s played for us here have just been outstanding. His ice time has gone up, so now you’ve got a defenseman logging 25 to 27 minutes a game, so he’s playing almost half the game for us. He really is playing pretty mistake-free hockey. 

“We always knew that he had the upside, that he was going to make plays happen and score goals, and generate power plays and stuff like that, but he needed to balance his game a little bit and not make the big mistakes,” Williamson said. “He’s done a great job of that.”

Hamilton had described himself as a “sneaky” offensive player around the time of the draft and in July’s rookie development camp. Now that he’s averaging nearly two points a game, the idea of him being sneaky may be out the window. He’s a guy teams need to account for at the point, and when he’s allowed an opportunity to be dangerous, he’s capitalizing.  

“I think, like last year, I’m getting good opportunities,” Hamilton said. “Our power play is doing really well. I think just coming back from camp with extra confidence and playing with those guys makes you better. I think I came back with confidence, and I think I got better over the summer as well. The opportunity, confidence and my development has helped a lot.” 

Confidence was actually one thing Williamson had to monitor when Hamilton got back from Bruins’ camp. In his experience, players returned to junior hockey from NHL camps come back thinking the OHL will be drastically easier and can therefore struggle. 

“I think two things happen, and it’s nothing negative to them,” Williamson said. “I really think when they stay there, and [fifth overall pick] Ryan Strome has gone through this, they really think that they’re Superman and they can do everything. I think they have to realize again how good the league is and how much work it takes to be successful. Not that they lack it, but I think it’s just a little bit of a mental approach that since they’ve been there with NHL guys and playing in exhibition games, that maybe our league is going to be a little bit easy. It never works that way. 

“It’s definitely an easier league, but you can’t have that mental approach. It bites them all in the rear end a little bit, but the good thing about Dougie is it didn’t take him very long to shake that. I thought he got back to his game very quickly.”

Hamilton played one game in the NHL preseason, excluding games against Islanders rookies. The 6-foot-4, 193-pound defenseman skated in the Bruins’ first preseason game, a 2-1 overtime loss to the Senators in Ottawa. He was a minus-1 with one shot on goal, and after the next contest, which he did not play in, was returned to Niagara. 

Hamilton described his time in Bruins’ camp as one of his “best hockey experiences so far” and said he liked seeing how he measured up against Bruins blueliners. He also learned a lot about the way the game is played at the next level.

“It’s definitely a bit of a different game,” he said. “I think in the NHL, everyone moves the puck a lot quicker and everything just happens so much quicker. In the OHL, there’s a lot more individual stuff with guys skating with it and being able to do that. Guys are a little bit smaller and a little bit weaker. You kind of get used to that and change your game a bit, but I like how I’ve done so far. I like where I’m at.”

There’s also the relief of just having to play his game rather than worrying about his draft status. Now in his third year of OHL and done with his schooling, Hamilton, an exceptional student who won the Bobby Smith Trophy for being the scholastic player of the year, doesn’t have anything but hockey – and perhaps bulking up – to focus on.

“Last year, I think he proved it to everybody and this year he comes back to our league with a lot of confidence,” Williamson said. “[He doesn’t have] the weight on his shoulders of trying to get drafted and have a good season to be drafted high. That’s already behind him. Now it’s just continuing his progress and he’s done that very well.”

Williamson has paired Hamilton with Jesse Graham, a smaller defenseman who should be a top pick in the coming draft. Hamilton is playing on the team’s top power play unit (which has been the best in the OHL thus far on the young season) and is killing penalties. Whether Hamilton’s defensive partner next season will be in Boston remains to be seen, but so far it sure does look like the Bruins got a good one in the first round this year.