He, like most players returning from a concussion, had an adjustment period. Since then, he's looked very much like his former self. I don't think the Bruins should trade for him (because I don't think he helps out in the proper area) but you'd be hard-pressed to compare his games from October and his past few games and think there's a different player there.
Dougie leads all Canes defensemen who have played at least 200 minutes at 5-on-5 in RelCF%, is second in RelxGF%, leads in ixGF/60, and is essentially tied with Calvin De Haan with CA/60. If we're gonna knock him because he has a lower points output its fair to point out that the entire team can't score. He's doing his job, making play go in the right direction, getting the puck on net and creating chances. He's also scored goals in three straight games, so maybe we'll finally see some sh% regression go his way.
Also, plus minus is a horrible statistic for so many reasons, but consider that any team with the kind of goaltending the Canes have had is bound to produce a lot of minus players. I don't know if you've checked but Drew Doughty is -14 on the season but somehow we haven't heard a peep about it from the usual suspects. It's 2019, we have so many better options for player analysis available to us (and for free!). Let's keep the statistics from 1970 in the past where they belong.
As for Dougie's availability, it has nothing to do with his on-ice play or Mysterious Locker Room issues and everything to do with the Canes simply floating a name out there to try to get the best return up front that they can get:
Multiple sources confirmed that the Hurricanes are open to trading Hamilton, not necessarily because they’ve soured on him but because they’re trying to get the best possible offer for a defenseman not named Jaccob Slavin. It would be surprising if the Hurricanes don’t trade either Hamilton, Justin Faulk or Brett Pesce at some point, although the best deal might not be until the draft.
Carolina wants to add scoring and also create a path for Adam Fox – the Harvard defenseman still needs to sign.