Are the New Jersey Devils pressuring Dougie Hamilton to expand his list?
Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman on the New Jersey Devils and the Dougie Hamilton situation. He’ll be a healthy scratch today. Are they trying to force a trade? He has a 10-team trade list. He blocked an offseason trade to the San Jose Sharks.
Ron McLean: “Well, we’ve got the Vancouver Canucks tonight, but you were discussing New Jersey, and maybe when the Quinn Hughes speculation was rising, it was almost like the moment that New Jersey started to find trouble. In any event, Dougie Hamilton, who would have been involved potentially in those talks, is in the cross-hairs now.
Friedman: “Yes. So Dougie Hamilton practiced on the fourth defensive pair on Saturday. The Devils play the Jets on Sunday, and he won’t play. He’s already been informed he will not be in the lineup.
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The Devils say, Look, we have a lot of extra defensemen, or we have extra defensemen. (Johnathan) Kovacevic is coming back; somebody has to sit. But Hamilton’s agent, JP Barry, feels this is a business decision to try to force Hamilton to accept a trade.
Reached out to Dougie Hamilton’s agent J.P. Barry. His response:
“Dougie was informed today that he will be not be playing now that Kovacevic is back in the lineup. In our view,
this decision is all about business rather than his game right now. Singling him out seems very…— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 10, 2026
Now, Hamilton did move to a partial no-trade clause this season. He can be traded to only one of 10 teams. The other 21 he can block. And one thing we are aware of is that in the summer, San Jose did try to trade for him, and Hamilton blocked that move. Now, the way it’s going now for the Sharks are on, maybe changes his mind. They’re one of the best teams in the NHL to watch.
But you know, the fact is that Barry has indicated they will consider discussing some of the teams that Hamilton can block a trade to. But there’s no question right now that the feelings are very hard on both sides. Losing does that. Hamilton feeling he’s being targeted for non-performance reasons, certainly does that.
Reached to Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald in wake of J.P. Barry’s comments.
Fitzgerald:
“As you know, we just put Nemec back in the lineup on Thursday. He’s a young guy who we want getting his game back, where he had been easily our best defensemen before his injury.
Pesce’s play…— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 10, 2026
The one thing I can tell you is people were wondering today if he would terminate his contract. He’s got two years left after this year at about $13.6 million. I’m told the answer to that is no. Hamilton’s due $8.4 million next year, including a $7.4 million bonus in the summer. That I understand is not on the table. So we’ll see if everybody can work together here to get something done.”
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