The New Jersey Devils did absolutely nothing during the NHL Trade Deadline. They literally sat on their hands and did nothing. This is a team near the bottom of the standings. They could have either sold their many assets that were coveted on the market, or they could have tried to buy to make an unlikely run to the playoffs. Instead, just like they’ve done all season, they did absolutely nothing.
That’s what this season has been all about. The team won’t hold the GM responsible. The GM won’t hold the head coach responsible. They won’t make a trade when half of the team is getting injured, and they won’t trade away assets when pieces clearly don’t fit. Nothing happens with this franchise.
As embarrassing as that was, it’s not more embarrassing than the situation they got themselves earlier this year with Dougie Hamilton. On the front half of a back-to-back, the team decided to bench their $9 million defenseman. Instead of saying it was to get a new lineup in or that Hamilton needed a night to reset, they insulted him and said Simon Nemec was their best defenseman.
What a strange week that was. This week, the rumors weren’t really heavy with Dougie Hamilton. They were focusing on Simon Nemec, but he didn’t get traded either. Fitzgerald did absolutely nothing. We know we’ve repeated ourselves, but it bears repeating.Â
On Friday, we learned that not only was Hamilton not traded, he wasn’t even on the trade block.Â
Tom Fitzgerald: "I did not have Dougie Hamilton's name out there."
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) March 6, 2026
He said he did not shop him but teams reached out that were interested in him.
Fitzgerald went on to say the teams calling him assumed he was shopping him, but because he was playing so well, the Devils decided to keep him. There's on issue with that: the Devils have four right-handed defensemen who are under control for a long time. Hamilton has two more years left after this one. Brett Pesce and Johnny Kovacevic are signed through 2030. Simon Nemec is a free agent after ths season, but it's restricted free agent.
The plan couldn’t be more unclear. It’s hard to tell what the Devils wanted out of this deadline. They left with nothing, which seems even weirder. There were not as many trades across the league as people expected, so maybe it was just an odd market.Â
However, that’s starting to become an excuse that is hard to swallow. Fitzgerald has gotten in trouble before by waiting too long, and now he is out of time to do anything this season. The Devils' situation is what it is, and the team is looking towards the offseason to move a defenseman.Â