Tom Fitzgerald is trying to improve via New Jersey Devils trade, and it appears we now know what, or who, is stalling progress.
Elliotte Friedman revealed on the most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast that he believes Fitzgerald has had to deal with some deals falling through due to trade clauses in New Jersey.
“I do believe the Devils have had a couple of deals vetoed. Okay? I do believe that. I don’t know who, I don’t know what, but I do believe that’s happened,” Friedman said. “There’s too much noise out there for that not to have occurred.”
Then on Monday, ESPN insider Kevin Weekes explained the Devils are shopping star Devils defenseman, Dougie Hamilton, and forward Ondrej Palat.
Both forwards own full no-move, 10-team trade clauses for the remainder of their respective contracts.
On Tuesday morning, New Jersey Hockey Now asked Hamilton if he’s recently been asked to wave his trade protection, or if he vetoed a trade amid a bevy of rumors.
The 32-year-old blueliner didn’t say yes, but he also didn’t say no in his response.
“You know, nothing’s changed since the start for me,” Hamilton explained to New Jersey Hockey Now. “I had the same comments at the start of the year. So, I’ll stay with what I said at the start, and it’s simple as that.”
Hamilton followed up with his desire to remain in New Jersey.
“That’s why I signed here, and it’s the team I’m playing for,” Hamilton continued. “That’s what you want, to play and win here. That’s what I want to do, that’s why I’m here.”
When asked if Hamilton would consider waving his no-trade clause in the right situation, he brushed it off, explaining it’s not something he thinks about. However, he did explain being in the trade rumor mill is nothing new to him.
“I mean, I’ve been traded two times already in my career, and I’ve been in lots of rumors with lots of different teams and stuff,” Hamilton said. “So I think I’m used to it by now. It’s part of hockey, and like I said, I’ve been going through it for, I don’t even know how many years now with rumors and whatnot. So it’s nothing that’s new to me.”
You might be thinking, “So what? Hamilton didn’t lean either way when asked about the rumors.”
However, when Palat was approached by NJ Advance Media with the same question—whether he vetoed a deal, or was approached to wave his no-move, no-trade clause—the former two-time Stanley Cup Champion was far more straightforward.
“No, no nothing,” Palat said.
He continued by explaining he hasn’t spoken with the Devils GM about any such thing at all.
“I don’t know anything about it. I’m off social media. Fitzgerald isn’t talking to me or anything, so I don’t know anything,” Palat explained.
ESPNs Greg Wyshynski wrote on Tuesday morning that the belief is the Devils put forward a package to the Vancouver Canucks for Quinn Hughes that included Simon Nemec, Dawson Mercer, 2024 10th overall pick Anton Silayev, and a first-round pick.
In fact, he explained a Devils trade package of that magnitude by New Jersey came with the understanding that Hughes would extend once the window opened. That indicates that trade discussions were not only had, but they were pretty far down the line.
However, Wyshinski further explained the Devils struggled to clear cap space, which was, “100% part of the talks [with Vancouver].”
That’s when Minnesota swooped in with what happened to be a stronger offer anyway.
So you can read between the lines here.
In a Marvel Studios alternate timeline, New Jersey lands Quinn Hughes in a Devils trade before Wild GM Bill Guerin even picks up the phone.
However, that’s not this world’s reality.
As one league source told New Jersey Hockey Now, Hamilton’s contract is not untradable. It’s more about money in, money out, and the Devils are trying to avoid taking too much salary back in return for the star blueliner to create as much cap space as possible.
Thus, the Devils GM has put himself in a bit of a pickle here. We’ll see if he can work his way, or his team’s way, out of trouble.
