The Devils are continuing to shop Dougie Hamilton

After all the drama a couple weeks ago which saw Dougie Hamilton get healthy scratched, and the various statements from both Hamilton’s agent and the New Jersey Devils management about the situation, it’s been a bit more quieter on that front. Hamilton has been back in the lineup and even managed to get four points in three games since the scratch. But that doesn’t mean he’s still not being shopped.

David Pagnotta joined Daily Faceoff Live to talk about Hamilton and what the trade market currently looks for him right now, as well as which teams may be in the running to acquire him.

David Pagnotta: The conversations continue with New Jersey. They’re trying to make this happen. They’re going to have to retain on that contract or take back money. Like significant money. This isn’t a scenario where New Jersey is going to free themselves up of the full $9 million.

But they’re trying to see how much cap space they can create and how can they make a deal that benefits them because they just don’t want to get rid of Dougie Hamilton. This isn’t a scenario where this guy’s complete junk. He’s having a bad season, but they just don’t want to deal with him anymore. There’s still value in this player. He’s still a top-four right [shot] D, and there’s value there.

Now, down the season, and the $9 million cap hit affects it, plus the fact that he’s got a $7.4 million bonus being paid July 1st. Then it’s a million dollars for the rest of the season, and then the last year of his contract is just a straight salary of $5.25 million. So the overall money does drop, but they want to make stuff happen here in terms of freeing up a little bit of cap space, and also making a move that makes sense for them.

Toronto has poked around. Carolina has poked around a little bit. I think Utah has. A couple other teams are a part of this mix still as well.

I don’t see a pathway for Toronto because I don’t think financially they can make it work. Even if the Devils eat half, which I don’t think they want to do, I think they’re willing to eat a little bit. I just don’t see a scenario where that’s a fit for Toronto. Toronto is actively looking for a right shot D, and that’s the priority right now. There was some talk of them also looking [for a top-six forward], and I think if somebody falls into their lap for within their top six, they’d go for it. But the priority for Toronto right now is trying to bring in a right-shot defenseman. But I just don’t see Dougie Hamilton being realistic right now unless we’re talking about a much larger trade. But I don’t get the sense at the moment.

Utah is the curious one for me. They’re not afraid to take some swings here. They’re not afraid to spend money, and they’ve been looking for somebody of his ilk to bring in to Salt Lake City. But again, it’s got to work financially.

You can watch the full episode here…