Hurricanes and Hamilton 'Way Off' With Contract Talks

The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Dougie Hamilton back in June of 2018 to become a pillar for their defense group and he's been everything as advertised. Hamilton's two plus seasons in Carolina have been stellar as he's been productive on both sides of the puck. 'Canes fans are hopeful the team is able to sign the pending unrestricted free-agent but unfortunately at the moment, there's a huge gap between Hamilton's agent and Hurricanes' management.

The two sides have been talking for the past couple of months and in February it sounds like it took a turn for the worse as the numbers weren't adding up for those involved. According to Pierre LeBrun from The Athletic, there's a 'tangible gap' between Hamilton's camp and the team.

So far this season the 27-year-old has recorded one goal and 13 assists in 22 games and is playing over 22 minutes a night. He's making $5.75 million on the cap this season and is expected to demand roughly $8.5 million on the open market.

The Hurricanes have the money to spend next season as the team will have $28 million in cap space according to Cap Friendly so if they want Hamilton as a piece of their core for the foreseeable future they are going to need to ante up some more dough for Dougie.

LeBrun on Insider Trading reports contract talks between Dougie Hamilton and the Hurricanes have stalled. The player is more on the Pietrangelo side of things and the team is more on the Krug side of things. #LetsGoCanes
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) March 2, 2021