New Jersey Wants to Clear Cap Space, But Hamilton May Wait
Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period joined Steve Kouleas and Jason Strudwick on Sirius XM NHL Network on Thursday. He was asked about the New Jersey Devils and their plans for Dougie Hamilton following Luke Hughes‘ injury.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: Dougie Hamilton and New Jersey, and Rasmus Andersson and Boston
Jason Strudwick: “Dougie Hamilton has had an off-season offensively. He’s had some injury issues his or an appetite, or a pretty strong appetite around NHL, and the belief that he is better than he’s shown, had two years left at $9 million in an interest to acquire this player with maybe just a little bit more of just cash, sorry, like, just take his contract on more than maybe a return.”
Dave Pagnotta: “I think from a return side of things, like I don’t, I haven’t gotten the sense that New Jersey just wants to get rid of him entirely. They want something back. Yes, they definitely want to free up space. It might be a little bit different now, with what happened to Luke Hughes, and he’s on LTIR. They want to figure out exactly what his definitive timeline is in terms of potential for playoffs or not.
So there’s a little bit more flexibility now from that side of things, at least for this season. Even prior to that, I never really got the sense that it was just take the $9 million and run or like, if we could free up five, that’s it. They want to free up the chunk. But they’re going to have to bring something back. Plus, there’s an asset here. And you’re right, there are teams around the league that still view him as somebody that can help their defensive corps.
And that this season, the way he’s performed has been an off year for him, and that he can get back to it under different circumstances, away from the distraction. And really, the distraction for him has gone through the summer. I mean, it was talked about around the draft. There was obviously the deal that didn’t happen with San Jose in July that carried on into the season, where we started the year in October, we started to hear his name again. So we’re hearing it. He’s certainly hearing it.
NHL Rumors: New Jersey Devils Want to Make a Dougie Hamilton Trade That Makes Sense
And that affects the player. So I give him a bye on this year in terms of performance right now because of the distractions that he’s had to deal with. A change of scenery would probably do him justice. But what type of player is he? Is he a first pair, right side, second pair, right side? Third pair, right side. I think a lot of people view him in that, in that middle tier right now, and there’s still value certainly for that.”
NHLRumors.com Note: While the New Jersey Devils continue to get calls on Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes being out past the Olympics changes a lot for a team that is trying to get into the playoffs. Yes, GM Tom Fitzgerald wants to clear cap space and add to the club, but not at the expense of missing the playoffs. He still believes his team is a playoff team.
NHL Rumors: New Jersey Devils Wants Assets Back in a Dougie Hamilton Trade
Hamilton’s agent, J.P. Barry, joined Donnie and Dahli and said he would check back with the Devils to see where things stood with the teams that reached out and what their plans were in light of the Hughes injury.
The Devils are playing better, and Hamilton has six assists since his scratch. Could the $7.4 million signing bonus play a factor? There are still many moving parts. The Devils want something in return for Dougie Hamilton. They don’t want to weaken their team at this point.
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