The Devils Will Trade Hamilton for the Right Deal
The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta joined Daily Faceoff Live with Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton and discussed where things stand with Dougie Hamilton and the New Jersey Devils. While the Devils want to move him and free up cap space, Pagnotta says they want to make a trade that makes sense for them.
Writing for NHLRumors.com
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Host: “Dave, any rumors on Dougie Hamilton or the New Jersey Devils? I know you guys had a story in the Fourth Period about Hamilton and the Leafs, but what’s the latest on Dougie Hamilton and what the Devils are trying to do to save their season?”
Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah? Well, I mean, so the talks are going on with New Jersey. They’re trying to make this happen. They’re going to have to keep to that contract, or they’re going to have to keep that contract, or they’re going to get the money back. Like a significant amount of money. Like this is not a situation where New Jersey is going to bail out of the full $9 million, but they’re trying to see how much of that cap space they can make, and how much of that cap space they can create?
Because they just don’t want to get rid of Dougie Hamilton. This isn’t a situation where this guy is trash and having a bad season, but they don’t want to deal with him anymore. There is still value in this player. He’s still a second-high type, right-D type of guy, and there’s value there.
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Now, obviously, the down season, and the cap hit of $9 million affects it, and the fact that he has, I think, a $7.4 million bonus paid on July 1, then $1 million for the rest of the season, and then the last year of his contract is a straight salary. I think it’s just over 5.6, something like that. So the overall cost is going down, but they want to make things happen here in terms of freeing up a little bit of space and making a move that makes sense for them.
Now, yes, Toronto played. Carolina has calmed down a bit. I think Utah has it. A few other groups are also part of this mix. Anyway, I don’t see the way to Toronto, because I don’t think financially, they can make it work, even if they eat half the Devils, which I don’t think they want to do. I think they are serious about eating less. I don’t see a situation where it’s appropriate in Toronto.
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Toronto is desperately looking for a decent D shot, and that’s a priority right now. There were people talking and watching. And I think if someone falls into his lap in the top six, he can follow. But Toronto’s top priority right now is trying to land a right-shooting defenseman.
But I just don’t see Dougie Hamilton being realistic right now, unless we’re talking about a really big trade, but I just don’t get the idea right now. Utah is a curiosity to me. They are not afraid to take swings here. They are not afraid to spend money. And they wanted one of those who could bring him to Salt Lake City. But again, it has to be financially viable.
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