NHL Rumors: Cap Situation Makes Tricky Addition Going Forward for New Jersey Devils

Income, income of the New Jersey Devils

The Chris Johnston Show: Chris Johnston, talking about the New Jersey Devils looking to add, but being bot tied, given their cap situation. Moving the contracts of Dougie Hamilton and Ondrej Palat are here. They may have to move Hamilton to add a forward.

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Julian McKenzie: “The one team that interests me most about that on your trade board is the New Jersey Devils. They’re obviously the losers in the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes. We’ve seen reports of a potential deal, but it seems like they couldn’t clear the cap space to make that work.

I mentioned Ondrej Palat. You are number six on your board. Dougie Hamilton is also on board. What do you think is in store for the New Jersey Devils?

Johnston: You know, I think it’s true that they could use, you know, to get rid of some, cap space in addition to trying to improve their system, right? And you know, where they are with Palat, you know, he’s still a solid player defensively, but he doesn’t bring the offense that he once did.

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And you know, he just set the stage where he didn’t put up the points to justify the $6 million cap hit. And you know, in some cases that might be fine, but if your team is getting eliminated, and you’re looking for ways to get more out of your lineup, I think that’s where his name comes into play.

You know, he’s not, he’s actually a guy who has a lot of respect around the league and experience, obviously, from all those years in Tampa and the cup run he had with the Lightning. But, you know, it might be getting to a point where that, a piece they can play to build cap room.

You know, I don’t know if anything is going to happen with Hamilton. I’ll be clear on that. I mean, he has a big cap. I don’t think it’s a crime when the Devils try to bring him down. I just think it’s possible, given that, you know what other players have on that green line, right?

You know, Brett Pesce is coming back from injury. Apparently, they signed Luke Hughes to his biggest story. They have Simon Nemec there. You know, they have, they probably have the ability, if they start moving money, to get rid of someone like Hamilton and use that money to grow their team going forward.

So I think what the Devils have, is, you know, a little internal pressure right now to try to look for improvement. I mean, you know, let’s not make any bones about it, the season took an unfortunate turn in that, that, that accident, you know, took Jack Hughes out of the lineup, or, you know, he cut his hand and needed surgery. And, you know, he, he’s kind of a straw serving a drink there.

They have had a number of other types of conditions as well. I mean, like a lot of teams, and I think injuries have been a factor in where they are. So, you know, there is, there is a real push to make the playoffs for the Devils.

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And so I think, you know, if I look at it all, you know, they’re going to try, they’re going to try to add pieces right forward. And you know, to do that, as would be the case with the Quinn Hughes trade, they might have to shed some salary.

So, you know, everything is tied together there. And you know, for sure, that’s why you see a few Devils players on the board? It’s just that they can be part of, you know, some, some dominoes falling here, if they can, they can arrange a trade.

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