Dougie Hamilton sat at his locker room stall stone-faced and silent. The Devils defenseman wasn’t in the mood for an interview.

“I’m not talking today,” Hamilton told NJ Advance Media.

Can you blame him? Hamilton skated alongside Colton White as a fourth-pair defender at Saturday’s practice, which indicates that he will be a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game at the Jets and beyond.

HAVE YOU JOINED OUR YOUTUBE PAGE? DEVILS REPORTER RYAN NOVOZINSKY BREAKS DOWN EVERY GAME — WITH YOUR HELP

The team claims it’s a hockey decision. Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic is returning to the lineup on Sunday and they miss his defensive prowess.

Let’s face it, though: Hamilton is sitting because he hasn’t waived his 10-team no-trade clause. Hours after practice, Hamilton’s agent, J.P. Barry, basically confirmed that in a strong statement sent to The Athletic.

“Dougie was informed today that he will not be playing now that Kovacevic is back in the lineup,” Barry said via The Athletic. “In our view, this decision is all about business rather than his game right now. Singling him out seems very calculated at this stage. 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.”

General manager Tom Fitzgerald — who hasn’t spoken publicly in months, despite his team’s nosedive down the standings — released a statement too.

“We just put (Simon) Nemec back in the lineup on Thursday,” Fitzgerald told The Athletic. “He’s a young guy who we want getting his game back, where he had been easily our best defenseman before his injury. (Brett) Pesce’s play speaks for itself, he isn’t going anywhere. And Kovacevic coming back gives our roster a spark we are looking for, and he was our best defensive defenseman all of last year. And that’s what we want with our lineup now.

“This is simply Dougie being the odd man out with where our right side is fully healthy for the first time all year. This is business. Business of our lineup.”

Let’s see how long this standoff continues. The 32-year-old Hamilton is in the fifth year of a seven-year, $9 million AAV contract. He’s had a disappointing season no doubt — five goals and 10 points in 40 games — but letting this soap opera linger will only further crush locker room morale (see the 2024-25 New York Rangers for proof).

Sign up for our Speaking of the Devils newsletter here! Get 10 inside-Devils notes in your inbox each Monday at 10 a.m. ET!

A former player told NJ Advance Media last week that benching a player with a restrictive no-move clause is “a very slippery slope.”

“I don’t know that I’d sign with New Jersey if they did something like that,” the player said.

The Devils, who now sit near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings after winning just three of their last 10 games, face the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.