Do the Devils find a suitor for Dougie Hamilton?
It’s been a tumultuous season for the New Jersey Devils and their general manager Tom Fitzgerald.
A group that entered the regular season with hopes and expectations of contending for the Stanley Cup is now a long shot to make the playoffs at all.
To make matters worse, the team missed out on the opportunity to make a trade to unite the Hughes brothers, as the Minnesota Wild landed Quinn from Vancouver in a blockbuster trade long anticipated to be made by New Jersey.
A contributing factor to the Devils’ inability to land the oldest Hughes brother was the lack of salary cap flexibility, as many highly-paid players on the team, like Dougie Hamilton, were able to utilize the trade protection afforded to them by their contracts.
Now, with the playoffs out of sight, Hamilton could be on the move at the trade deadline if a situation with a competitive team presents itself.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed whether or not Fitzgerald will be able to find a taker for Hamilton at the deadline, or if that’s a matter that gets resolved over the summer.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Name number five on the board was Dougie Hamilton, Hutts, and I went cheeky in my response. I said New Jersey. I just don’t think he’s going to go anywhere. I think the contract’s too hard to move in season. I’m not sure the no-trade clause complicates things. I think Dougie Hamilton is a name for the summer, but did you have someone who you think could maybe get him before the deadline?
Carter Hutton: I just went off of the board a little bit. I know he nixed the trade in the summer to the San Jose Sharks, but I said San Jose because they have a ton of money to give to him. If they could take his full contract, I think it’s a simple deal where maybe he goes there. And the fact that he just watched Macklin Celebrini at the Olympics be the story, right? And maybe you go there and you help them out. You get to go to California. It’s a pretty good deal. They could swallow his $9 million. Like you look at their D-core, the only defenseman that’s really signed, they have Sam Dickinson on his entry level contract, then it’s Dmitry Orlov, and he has one year left. Everybody else is a UFA. Like if he goes there in two years, it’s not a big deal. It doesn’t like mortgage their whole future. So I think it could be interesting just for him to get a change of scenery, because obviously it hasn’t gone the way it’s planned in New Jersey.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…