New Jersey Devils should reconsider trading Dougie Hamilton at all

It's clear to many that New Jersey Devils' general manager Tom Fitzgerald is in the process of trying to trade Dougie Hamilton off his team. It makes sense given his massive $9 million AAV contract, his age, and the overall lack of production offensively throughout the season. However, his play of late has been promising, as he has contributed significantly to helping the Devils secure back-to-back wins against Minnesota and Seattle. Since returning from being a healthy scratch, the 32-year-old defenseman has totaled three assists and three points. In addition, he's playing with more purpose and energy.

It gives Devils' fans hope that perhaps Hamilton has found his groove again, making him a threat offensively for years. It could also be because he wants to increase his value and interest from other teams looking to trade for him. Regardless, Fitzgerald should start to think again about whether he should move on from Hamilton. For one, if he keeps this play up and you don't have a reliable replacement, you're hurting an offense that, until lately, has been dreadful. When Hamilton is at his best, he's still a reliable top-four offensive defenseman.

Instead, the Devils need to pivot to moving someone worse offensively and have a high cap hit of their own. Despite a surprising two-goal performance in the win at Minnesota, Ondrej Palat has struggled mightily over the past 365 days. In that span, he's tallied just nine goals and a total of 19 points. This is while he's making $6 million AAV until the end of next season. Simply put, he hasn't been the player that Fitzgerald, who reportedly went against his analytics team to get him, that he had hoped he would be.

Fitzgerald should focus more on moving him over Hamilton. Also, despite the trade and no-movement clauses Palat has, his cap hit and shorter contract length make him easier to move. If the Devils can move Palat's contract with no retention, they can have just about $5.3 million in cap space for the trade deadline. It would certainly give Fitzgerald much more flexibility to give this team scoring help. If you do that, add scoring, and keep Dougie, you increase your chances of getting back to a similar form the team was back in October.

While it's still likely Hamilton is on the move, Fitzgerald and the Devils need to take a longer look at the big picture. They should reevaluate Dougie's value on the team before moving on from him. If this is the Hamilton, they get the rest of the season; trading the defenseman should not happen at this time.