Hurricanes linked to trade for $9 million familiar face

Hurricanes linked to trade for $9 million familiar face originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Carolina Hurricanes are chasing after big goals.

To get themselves to their maximum potential, they might have to pull off a headline-grabbing trade before the March 6 NHL deadline. For who, exactly? Dougie Hamilton.

Hamilton is on the New Jersey Devils, and he's one of the top defensemen involved in recent trade rumors.

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski made the connection in a new article on Thursday, and it'd make sense for a lot of reasons, including the fact that Hamilton has played for the Hurricanes before.

The biggest obstacle, as it often is this time of year, would be lining the salary up to fit with Carolina.

"He has a 10-team trade list and a $9 million cap hit that the Devils probably have to keep a portion of to facilitate a deal," Wyshynski writes. "Although he's only owed $13.65 million in real dollars over the last two years of his contract."

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Hamilton still is a quality player, and that would be the most important piece of such a deal for the Hurricanes.

"Hamilton isn't the offensive player that he once was, but he could easily fill someone's need for a veteran puck-moving defenseman on their second pairing," Wyshynski writes. "One intriguing possibility: a reunion with the Carolina Hurricanes, whom Hamilton left as a free agent in 2021."

The Devils had already looked ready to line up a Hamilton trade before the Olympic break, but they held off when Luke Hughes was injured.

Now, New Jersey is in position to get a trade done in the next week, and the Hurricanes should be calling.

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