![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hamilton-200x300.jpg\")
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New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton (NHL Images).<\/p>\n
Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said he wasn\u2019t shopping Hamilton before the deadline, but he acknowledged a couple of teams called about the 32-year-old defenseman. <\/p>\n
Hamilton appeared in trade rumors in mid-January after being a healthy scratch from a game against the Winnipeg Jets. At the time, Fitzgerald said it was performance-related, but the defenseman\u2019s camp believed the club was trying to force Hamilton to waive his 10-team trade list going back to last summer\u2019s draft. <\/p>\n
Since then, however, Hamilton\u2019s performance has improved, with 17 points in his last 20 games. Fitzgerald downplayed the January incident as a misunderstanding.<\/p>\n
Hamilton is signed through 2027-28 with an average annual value of $9 million. He is due for a $7.4 million signing bonus on July 1, which reportedly hindered the Devils\u2019 efforts to move him in a trade. <\/p>\n
SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: The Devils will be a team to monitor in the offseason. They were reportedly listening to offers for young defenseman Simon Nemec, who is in the final season of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent lacking arbitration rights. It\u2019s believed he could seek a contract comparable to the seven-year, $63 million deal signed by teammate Luke Hughes last October. <\/p>\n
The Devils can\u2019t afford to shell out $27 million annually for three defensemen. They could face a choice between moving Nemec or Hamilton.<\/p>\n
THE RANGERS\u2019 PRICE FOR TROCHECK WAS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR THE BRUINS<\/p>\n