The New Jersey Devils have $9 million reasons to be fielding trade offers on Dougie Hamilton, and it appears that the process is moving swiftly along with new comments from Hamilton's agent as well as Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald.
This shouldn't come as a surprise after the Devils reportedly asked Hamilton to waive his no-trade clause during the pursuit for Quinn Hughes, which he declined to do. In any case, the deal for the eldest Hughes brother never came to fruition, leaving Hamilton in New Jersey for the time being.
The plot thickened when word broke over the weekend that Hamilton was expected to be a healthy scratch for the Devils' Sunday game now that Johnathan Kovacevic is returning from an extended injury. That left the 33-year-old defenseman out of the lineup and only served to fuel the rumor mill even further.
But this time, there's actually some substance behind the whispers. NHL insider Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic spoke to both camps on Saturday, indicating that the two sides are at odds when it comes to Hamilton's future in New Jersey.
"In our view, this decision is all about business rather than his game right now," Hamilton's agent, JP Barry, told LeBrun. "Singling him out seems very calculated at this stage."
Those comments make it pretty clear that Hamilton's side is preparing to depart the Garden State. Barry added that Hamilton would be willing to work around his no-trade clause and negotiate on potential destinations, but overall, the statement made it sound like a move is inevitable.
"Dougie has a 10-team trade list and there have been efforts to trade him going back to the draft last year. We have made it clear to the Devils that we will consider teams outside our list and other creative ways to get to a team that is mutually acceptable."JP Barry, Dougie Hamilton's agent
Fitzgerald, on the other hand, was not as quick to open up about the future plans for Hamilton. The Devils' GM, who has been at the helm since 2020, was steadfast that the decision to scratch Hamilton was purely based on the on-ice needs of the team and did not make any reference to a potential deal being in the works.
"This is simply Dougie being the odd-man out with where our right-side is: fully healthy for the first time all year," Fitzgerald told LeBrun.
There is truth behind that sentiment. Kovacevic is set to make his season debut after earning a long contract extension at the tail end of last season; Simon Nemec is healthy again and has consistently been among the team's top defenders all year; Brett Pesce has zero chance of coming out of the lineup, serving as New Jersey's stalwart on the blue line.
But if you read between the lines, LeBrun has opened up a can of worms that Fitzgerald can no longer keep contained. The Devils' season is trending in a downward direction with a 6-12-1 record since the start of December, and fans have been growing impatient waiting for a sign of life from management. Fitzgerald seems unwilling to address the trade rumors, even sweeping them under the rug, but the fact is that something about the team needs to change in order for there to be improvements.