The New Jersey Devils are starting to find their groove again. Last week, President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald met with the media to address why the Devils did not trade for Quinn Hughes, along with other pressing questions surrounding Dougie Hamilton, Ondrej Palat, and others.
Fitzgerald admitted this season hasn’t gone as planned, but that hasn’t stopped him from working the phones as he tries to improve his club. As DevilsNation.com has documented, Fitzgerald wants to add to his team and salvage the season to try to make the playoffs. But it won’t be easy to do that without shedding some salary.
One of the players the Devils are trying to trade is defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton has a $9 million salary cap hit. After being a healthy scratch last Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets, he has gotten back into the lineup. He will be playing in his third straight game since being a healthy scratch. He has registered four assists in his last three games with a +3 rating.
New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald: “Where We Are At is on Me“
While things have calmed down some right now, the New Jersey Devils are still trying to make something happen, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and TSN during an appearance on Insider Trading this past week.
“I think that caught some people off guard that he was right back in the lineup because the impression on Saturday is that he wasn’t going to play for a while, but it doesn’t change anything,” LeBrun said on Insider Trading. “Everyone involved is still focused on finding a trade for Dougie Hamilton as a resolution. Just not a sense that anything is imminent at this point. The fact that he’s got two more years on his deal at $9 million a year is a complicating factor.”
LeBrun mentions the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes as potential fits. The Hurricanes, more so, because Hamilton used to play there and played well there. As for the Maple Leafs, they will need to know about Chris Tanev being done for the year. And if he is, that means he will be placed on season-ending LTIR. While that opens up $4.5 million, they still need help from the Devils to retain money on Hamilton’s deal.
However, all indications are that the New Jersey Devils don’t want to do that. They want to free up as much cap space as possible. While they hope to get it done before the Olympic Break, it is complicated. Hamilton has a 10-team trade list. These are 10 specific teams that make it hard for the Devils to trade him, according to Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period.
“Obviously, the Devils want to make this happen,” Pagnotta said on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio. “His no-trade or, excuse me, his 10-team trade list. I’m under the belief that it was strategically put together to make it difficult for him to move, which is why he’s now open, or partially why he’s open to accepting a deal to another team outside that list. Anyway, the bottom line is, they’re trying to make it happen.”
Devils Rumors: New Jersey Not Done and Tom Fitzgerald Job Security
But they don’t want to just give him away. They want assets for him. Not to mention the $7.4 million signing bonus he is owed on July 1st. That is why things don’t move as quickly as people think they do.
“Again, they got to find a) the right fit for them. B) the ability to free up the most money, and then C) find the right return coming back,” Pagnotta said on NHL Network. “This isn’t an easy scenario for Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils.”
In addition, both LeBrun and Pagnotta confirmed the reports from DevilsNation.com and NHLRumors.com over the past few months that the Devils are also trying to move Ondrej Palat. Palat is owed $6 million over the next couple of seasons. Similar to Hamilton’s contract, Palat has a 10-team-specific trade list, which complicates things for the Devils.
So Tom Fitzgerald has his hands full. To improve the team, Fitzgerald will need to clear the cap dollars first. Not easy when most of the roster has some sort of trade protection. This will be no easy task.
However, if the New Jersey Devils keep winning, does this change the mindset on everything, as they could revisit all these plans in the summer? The Devils will be an interesting team leading up to the Olympic Break and Trade Deadline.
