The New Jersey Devils are now between a rock and a hard place regarding defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
Hamilton’s upcoming healthy scratch on Sunday afternoon against the Winnipeg Jets signals that the veteran blueliner is on the outs. As my colleague Nick Villano reported, there’s nothing personal at play here. Hamilton is the victim of a game of numbers. Hamilton got squeezed out of the picture as Jonathan Kovacevic returns to the lineup.
Dougie Hamilton's situation is only hurting his trade value
That situation prompted Hamilton’s agent to set the record straight by stating that his benching was a business decision by the club. That decision entails Hamilton being willing to be traded.
According to chatter, Hamilton has nixed potential trades this season. The Devils purportedly tried to move Hamilton in the run-up to the Quinn Hughes trade. However, New Jersey had no luck finding takers for Hamilton and his $9 million cap hit.
That being said, Hamilton is now believed to be much more amenable to a trade. But the situation has now deteriorated to the extent that Hamilton would no longer fetch a significant return. That possibility is further diminished if the Devils ask a potential suitor to take on Hamilton’s full cap hit.
Realistically, there’s little chance the Devils could fetch more than a couple of late-round draft picks or a mid-range prospect for Hamilton. That’s no indictment on Hamilton’s play. It’s the reality of how much the market has tanked on the 32-year-old defenseman.
Think about it this way: A depreciated asset, even if its underlying value remains intact, has little hope of fetching a high price. It’s like trying to sell an ice-cold soda in the middle of a snowstorm.
Sure, someone might want to chug a cold soda. But would they be willing to pay top dollar for it? Conversely, a cold soda in the middle of a scorching summer day would get full price.
Hamilton is the cold soda in the middle of winter. The market is ice cold on him. Yes, there would be plenty of teams looking to land Hamilton. But the Devils would have to either eat up a ton of his cap hit or bite the bullet and move him for whatever they can get.
In the end, the Devils’ biggest gain in moving Hamilton is $9 million in cap space. But there’s a caveat. Hamilton will not be going to a contender, not unless the Devils eat up half of his cap hit.
It might be easier to get a deal done if Hamilton were willing to go to a rebuilding club. But that’s an entirely different conversation.