Could the Devils Get a Goal Scorer for Dougie Hamilton
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined TSN Radio in Montreal on Monday and was asked what is going on between the New Jersey Devils and Dougie Hamilton. Pagnotta said that while they are trying to trade him, the Devils want assets in return. Mainly a goal scorer.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: New Jersey Devils – Dougie Hamilton and Dawson Mercer
Host: “All right, before we let you go, you got to try and make sense of what’s happening in New Jersey and what’s going to happen with Dougie Hamilton.”
Dave Pagnotta: ” Look. They’ve tried. This goes back to last season, where they explored that possibility. They explored it again around the Draft, and they thought they had a deal with the Sharks. And then, he wasn’t prepared to do that, which was right around the first week of July.
They waited for his bonus to be paid out, and it didn’t happen. Now he’s got another big bonus, $7.4 million, something like that, due July 1. Then it’s a million-dollar salary, and then the following season, the last year of his deal, he’s only making $5.25 million. So financially, there is a benefit for a lot of teams, and some teams may still insist that they do have interest in waiting until July, which puts them in a very tough position, the Devils in terms of their desire to make some changes.
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But clearly, with his agent coming out, and telling Pierre LeBrun where things are at, and they’re open to expanding their list. Now, their list, I was told, was strategically put together to make it very difficult to actually trade him. And I think the reason why they’re willing to say that we’re able to back off of that list and explore alternative options is just because of just how creative they got with that list.
I think he will be moved this season, even with that bonus in place in July. It’s just a matter of them, obviously, finding the right deal. Because at the same time, this isn’t just a player that they want to get rid of for nothing. They do want some value back in return. Yes, the value comes with freeing up $9 million in cap space.
First of all, I don’t think they’re going to be able to free up the full pop in season right now, but giving them some breathing space, I think, is a possibility. But at the same time, they want to get back some assets in this trade. This isn’t just a dump. So, or at least that’s, the notion around the league right now.
NHL Rumors: New Jersey Devils – Dougie Hamilton and Dawson Mercer
So we’ll see kind of where Tom Fitzgerald goes with this. But they want to free up money. They want to bring in somebody who can help them score. They’ve struggled in that department, which is a little bit surprising given the roster.
And part of the reason why we’re starting to hear Dawson Mercer‘s name out there a little bit more. It’s teams trying to poke around and see if they can pluck him out of there, because everyone else has a no-trade.
But with Dougie Hamilton specifically, I think there’s a pathway to a deal here with the team, but again, New Jersey is just not looking to dump them. They want to get some assets back for this guy.”
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