3 Potential Trade Destinations for Devils' Dougie Hamilton
The New Jersey Devils are going to look much different heading into next season, and one player expect to see traded this offseason is veteran defenceman Dougie Hamilton.
There's been a ton of drama surrounding Hamilton this season, and he was a healthy scratch mid-way through the season, and his agent lost his mind. There was a big drama-filled back and forth in the media, and at the end of the day, GM Tom Fitzgerald couldn't find a deal he liked ahead of the trade deadline, and Hamilton stayed put. The hold up was the fact Fitzgerald wasn't willing to retain 50% of Hamilton's salary to see the interested team pay up in a major way with assets.
Hamilton's signed through the 2028 season at $9 million AAV, and owns a 10-team trade list that he's presented to Fitzgerald ahead of the season, and could potentially change his list on July 1. Hamilton's appeared in 72 games this year, scoring 12 goals and 35 points, while averaging 21:35 of ice-time per game. At 32, yes, Hamilton's slowed down a little bit, but there's no denying he still has plenty of game left in the tank.
As far as trade destinations go, the Toronto Maple Leafs made a serious trade offer before the deadline, but with Brad Treliving canned, it will be interesting to see if the new GM has interest in the right-handed blueliner. They certainly should, as the Leafs need to reshape their blueline. Hamilton would love to play in Toronto.
The Vancouver Canucks are an interesting team to watch as they're in rebuild mode, but if they land Gavin McKenna and add a couple of veterans, they'll be looking it as a re-tool on the fly instead of a full five-year rebuild. The Edmonton Oilers are another team to watch this offseason. This could very well be it for Darnell Nurse as an Oiler, so adding the right-handed Hamilton could be something these two teams discuss on the trade market.
Hamilton's getting traded out of New Jersey this summer, mark our words.
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