Devils News
Teams Monitoring Star Defenseman in Potential Devils Trade | Report
In a recent interview with The Athletic, it was revealed that teams are keeping an eye on Dougie Hamilton in a potential Devils trade.
It’s unsurprising to read, but according to a recent report, teams are keeping an eye on Dougie Hamilton in a potential New Jersey Devils trade.
READ MORE: 3 Early Red Flags For Devils Despite Strong Start
The rumors started over the summer when the Devils still needed to clear cap space in order to fit Luke Hughes under their salary cap.
The restricted free-agent defenseman didn’t ink a new deal until the 11th hour of training camp, and thus, the Devils now have two $9 million defensemen.
With a rising salary cap, there’s now room to hold both on the same roster. Yet, that isn’t stopping the vultures from circling, according to Pierre LeBrun via his latest at The Athletic.
“There are certainly other NHL front offices keeping a close eye on that situation in the event Hamilton becomes available at some point. He’s got a 10-team no-trade list,” The Athletic insider writes.
As far as Hamilton’s future, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald insists that Luke’s signing has no impact on his future as a Devil.
“As far as the future, Dougie signed a long-term deal with us (through 2027-28),” Fitzgerald told The Athletic. “We’ve got to let this thing play out with all our players, not just with Player A or Player B. Where do we go by the end of the year? Where do we finish? How did we do? And then we can say, ‘OK, maybe it’s time to move on from certain players.’ But we’re not there. Luke’s signing has nothing to do with any other defenseman on our team. It’s just me trying to put this puzzle together piece by piece.”
As far as Hamilton, he doesn’t want to go anywhere, and is tuning out the rumors.
“I signed here for a reason, and I love being here. Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup here, and I want to keep trying to do that,” Hamilton told NJ.com.
Certainly, nothing is imminent. The Devils are on a roll to start the season, holding a 5-1-0 record through six games. Fitzgerald certainly isn’t going to start making changes for the sake of change.
However, with many anticipating Quinn Hughes‘ arrival at some point, there’s base to all the skepticism.
