The New Jersey Devils recently welcomed Jack Hughes back to the lineup after he missed several weeks with a freak injury suffered last month while attending a team dinner. However, now that Hughes has returned, there appear to be hints of potential movement involving another member of the team, defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
Hamilton, the second senior-most member of the blue line, has been listed as a prime candidate to be moved out of town in order to better help alleviate their salary cap situation, according to a recent report from noted Insider Elliotte Friedman.
“They’ve had at least one — and possibly two — vetoed trades,” Friedman wrote. “There are several players with protection. I have my suspicions, but no proof. I’ve never heard Ondrej Palat’s name, and I suspect that if they want to move Dougie Hamilton, it will have to be to one of the 10 teams on his list. If not, forget it. This chapter of the book is not over, however. At the very least, they continue to investigate options to move money when the time comes.”
Hamilton is skating in his fifth season as a member of the Devils, and he’s under contract through the end of the 2027-28 NHL season with a $9 million cap hit.
The Devils would reportedly like to move Dougie Hamilton 
David Kirouac-Imagn Images
According to Friedman, the Devils would prefer to move on from Hamilton, and it would help to free up more salary cap space. While he remains a capable veteran defenseman who can play in all situations, Hamilton’s best years are behind him at 32 years of age, and he’s suffered from injury concerns in recent seasons.
By now, Hamilton should be used to being included in trade rumors, and it goes without saying that his $9 million salary cap hit will be a hefty obstacle for the Devils to overcome; they will likely have to retain a portion of his salary in a potential trade to help sweeten the pot.
The Devils currently occupy the fifth overall spot in the Metropolitan Division, but a pair of wins would immediately leapfrog them over the next two clubs ahead of them.