The New Jersey Devils are looking to make major moves this offseason. In order to make major moves, they need cap space. They are competing with the Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, and Columbus Blue Jackets for the biggest free agents and trade targets on the market. The Toronto Maple Leafs want to make themselves a contender despite losing Mitch Marner and possibly more, and the Detroit Red Wings are desperate under Steve Yzerman.
The Devils have a ton of competition, and just about everyone they are competing with has more opportunity than they do. That’s because they came into the offseason with just $12 million in cap space and Luke Hughes still left to sign. It’s clear the Devils, and Tom Fitzgerald specifically, need to make hard decisions to give them an opportunity to have the offseason they wanted.
Those hard decisions started on Wednesday. The Devils traded Erik Haula to the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round pick and an ECHL defenseman. That pushed the Devils’ cap space to $14 million, but that can’t be the only cost-cutting move they make. There has to be more.
The consensus is they’ll trade Ondrej Palat, and there is apparently a market for him. That would give the Devils another $6 million to spend. That would be great, but there is another route the Devils can go.
Dougie Hamilton returned from a major injury this season, and he was not as good as the Devils had hoped. He still helped the team offensively, but he wasn’t providing the offensive firepower they needed. He lost a few miles per hour on his shot, and the passing wasn’t as crisp as it was prior to tearing his pectoral muscle. We’ve seen that injury impact players negatively for the rest of their careers in the past, but Hamilton is the best player to have suffered that injury recently.
On top of the injury, the Devils have a logjam on the right side of their defense. They have Brett Pesce and Johnny Kovacevic signed long term, and Simon Nemec proved himself in the playoffs. They have three right-handed defensemen not named Hamilton. We would advocate for Pesce to play on the left with Hamilton, but they have Jonas Siegenthaler, Luke Hughes, and Brenden Dillon on the left. They have seven NHL defensemen for six spots.
That might be why Dougie Hamilton’s name is out there in preliminary trade talks. It’s not from any of the reliable sources, so take that with a grain of salt, but there are people wondering if Hamilton is available.
We don’t think the Devils would hang up the phone if someone calls on Hamilton. It all depends on the return. Unlike Haula, a mid-round pick isn’t going to do it. What would get the ball moving on a Hamilton trade?
He’s more of a household name, and the price for right-handed defensemen is always elevated. He does come with a $9 million cap hit, but the Devils will likely pay Hamilton’s bonus, so his actual salary this year is $1 million. His salary continues to drop after this year through the final year of his contract (2027-28).
Hamilton makes a lot of sense for a few teams. The Utah Mammoth have already connected with the Devils on a right-handed defenseman. They traded for John Marino last season. Could they also add Hamilton? The Seattle Kraken make sense, as well. The Toronto Maple Leafs make sense as well. As do the Montreal Canadiens, who need someone on the right side add to Lane Hutson after his Calder Trophy performance.
The worth is hard to decipher, but we don’t think asking for a first-round pick is out of the question. You’re not getting anything close to the top 10, even in this draft which is considered weak, but a first-round pick is definitely on the table in a Hamilton deal. If the Devils retain even $1 million, they could see the other team add to the deal.
There, the Devils would likely ask for a prospect. It would be someone with relative talent and a high likelihood to at least make the league. They aren’t getting a top-10 prospect in the NHL, but it’s someone with some upside.
Hamilton’s trade protection is limited to a 10-team trade list. He might even waive for the right opportunity, but Hamilton did say he loves it in New Jersey and has never shown signs that he wants to go elsewhere.
The most likely outcome is Hamilton starting the season in New Jersey. He is still a useful player, but others might have passed him on this defense. The Devils can always use $9 million to spend, or even $8 million with the retained salary, but this also might not be the right offseason to spend it all.
This trade only makes sense if a team pays a decent price to make it happen. Will a team do that? It’s definitely possible.