With the Devils expecting to activate defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic off LTIR in advance of tomorrow’s game against Winnipeg, New Jersey will need to pull a defenseman out of the lineup to make room for him. It appears that will be veteran Dougie Hamilton based on today’s practice lines.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reached out (Twitter link) to Hamilton’s agent, CAA Sports’ J.P. Barry, for comment. Barry made it clear that he and his client feel this is business-related, not performance-related. The full comment is below:
“Dougie was informed today that he will be not be playing now that Kovacevic is back in the lineup. In our view, this decision is all about business rather than his game right now. Singling him out seems very calculated at this stage.
Dougie has a 10-team trade list and there have been efforts to trade him going back to the draft last year. We have made it clear to the Devils that we will consider teams outside our list and other creative ways to get to a team that is mutually acceptable.”
The 32-year-old has been in trade speculation for a while despite that trade protection. With New Jersey having one of the most expensive defense corps in the NHL and Simon Nemec in line for a new contract next summer, some have expected the Devils to try to move one of their blueliners out. Hamilton has a strong track record offensively but a $9MM cap charge through the 2027-28 season has limited his viable suitors. It also has played a big role in the team having to operate in LTIR all season long, preventing them from banking in-season cap space that could be used to try to improve or shake up their roster.
Unfortunately for Hamilton and the Devils, there is a performance-related case to his being scratched. He has just five goals and five assists in 40 games this season despite logging nearly two minutes per game on the power play and a little under 22 minutes a night overall. This comes on the heels of putting up 40 points in 64 games just last season while he has reached or surpassed the 40-point mark seven other times in his career. There have been a lot of underperformers in New Jersey recently and he has certainly been one of them.
On top of the trade protection, it should be noted that Hamilton also has a no-move clause that effectively serves as a no-waivers clause. As a result, this isn’t a case where New Jersey could put him on waivers and assign him to the minors.
Regardless of the impetus for the decision, the Devils scratching their highest-paid player (tied with Luke Hughes) is certainly going to draw some attention, as will Barry’s statement. Whether this will be enough to kickstart trade discussions remains to be seen. New Jersey’s season has been falling off the rails lately with seven losses in their last nine games (including a 9-0 drubbing earlier this week) and this will only lead to further distractions with calls growing for GM Tom Fitzgerald to try to do something to jumpstart this roster.
he’s sucked for years
Doesn’t help him when the Spittin Chiclets boys are calling him out.
Codi Ceci & 3rd for him!
We will give him to you for a cheeseburger if he will go and you take his salary.
Finally a move that takes some nuts. Next sit Palat. If it doesn’t help, sit Fitzgerald permanently.
Luke needed the reset but Dougie takes a seat; seems about right…
I wonder if the Sharks would take him… They have expiring D men left, right and centre and Dougie can still play well on the PP – on the Sharks he’d be their PP QB and top pairing dman most likely. SJS possibly on the no trade list but they have a bright future so he might take it. Not sure about the value here…
Ferraro + 2nd for Hamilton?
You very obviously have not been watching the Sharks this year. In what universe does a guy with 10 points become the PP QB? What? Top pairing defenceman? ??????
Hamilton would be an upgrade over Leddy, sure. But we still have Ferraro, Dickinson, Orlov, Desharnais, Mukhamadullin and Iorio that all have better game than Hamilton right now. And Klingberg exists. He can score goals usually.
Read my name, you’ll see what I watch. Absolutely guarantee Hamilton is better than every one of them. He’s basically Klingberg but with much better reliability.
I get that it’s fun to be a sharks fan again, but don’t kid yourself that it’s not one of the bottom 5 D-corps in the league. Leddy, Iorio, Muk and Desharnais are AHL players on a top 10 team. Orlov, Dickinson, Ferraro and Klingberg are bottom pair or depth on a contender.
Let’s also not forget MG set it up this way, almost the whole lot expire this year and will be gone at the TDL or upgraded. They will need 2 things next year that they currently don’t have – Dmen under contract and players to hit the cap floor. Dougie is both.
Stay out of it Sweeney
No lesson learned with PK contract.