The New Jersey Devils have had most of their defensemen in trade rumors for the last 18 months. Dougie Hamilton has been the most prominent, as Tom Fitzgerald tried to trade him during the 2025 offseason. Famously, Hamilton declined a trade to the San Jose Sharks.
It’s not just Hamilton and his $9 million salary. There have been rumors about Johnny Kovacevic, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Brenden Dillon. The only ones who seem to have been safe from the rumors were the top line of Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce.
Meanwhile, Sunny Mehta took over as the GM of the Devils, and he made plenty of moves to improve the roster. One of which was trading defenseman Simon Nemec for a package of futures, including two first-round picks. That relieved the Devils of a logjam at the position and bolstered their assets to make future trades, including the deal for Luke Evangelista.
It’s no surprise when we hear that Devils players might have declined a trade using their no-trade clauses, but we still have to make sure we get it right. The biggest insider in hockey had to admit he got one wrong.
One trade rumor surrounding a popular New Jersey Devils defenseman turned out not to be true
Elliotte Friedman reported this month that Dillon had declined a trade that was presented to him. Then, on Friday’s 32 Thoughts blog, Friedman was forced to pull that back.
"Finally, wanted to correct something I got wrong last week on Matt Marchese and Mike Futa’s The Fan Hockey Show. I said there were two Devils defencemen who used their no-trade protection last season. One, as previously reported, was Dougie Hamilton. I named Brenden Dillon as the other. That’s a moronic mistake. It wasn’t him. "Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts
The Devils love and appreciate having Dillon on the team, so we imagine there was a quick call when Friedman learned Dillon was not the guy who blocked a deal. He didn't mention who did block a trade, but it wouldn't be hard to figure out. Johnny Kovacevic missed most of the season with a knee injury, but he returned before the trade deadline. Jonas Siegenthaler also has a no-trade clause in his deal, at least a partial one.
The Devils were trying to make something work around a Quinn Hughes trade, so there was plenty of attempted movement, but it sounds like Friedman heard who that player was incorrectly.
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