Hurricanes grant Dougie Hamilton permission to speak with other teams
Anthony Scultore
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The Carolina Hurricanes have granted defenseman Dougie Hamilton permission to talk with other teams. According to both Elliotte Friedman and Darren Dreger this opens up the possibility for a sign and trade. The acquiring team would have the ability to offer an 8th year. It’s also been noted that there is no rush by either side at this point.
Dougie Hamilton granted permission to speak to teams
Now that Hamilton can go and search the market for a better deal, we should note that both sides opted to table discussions back in March.
“We’ve both decided that it would be best for both sides to just wait until the end of the year,” Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said on the “DFO Rundown” podcast Monday. “Let’s sit down and see if we can hammer out a deal, put it on the back burner so Dougie can worry about playing hockey at this point.”
via NHL.com
Waddell also reiterated that he wants Hamilton to stay in Carolina and that the feeling was mutual. We noted at the beginning of this month that the situation was leaning towards the two sides coming together on a new deal. However, there is always risk that the impasse will continue and now here we are.
Hamilton is seeking an $8 million deal and finished the season with 42 points in 55 games. The 27 year-old right handed shot will be sought after, but with the flat-cap still in place, he may not have many teams willing to give him the contract he’s seeking.
Hamilton starts a ruckus with Lightning salary cap comments
“We had a great season. We lost to a team that’s $18 million over the cap, or whatever they are,” Hamilton said after his Canes were eliminated in reference to Tampa’s bloated salary cap. “I don’t have a problem with it. You just realize how good that team was.”
This set off a bit of a firestorm with the Lightning starting with Nikita Kucherov and then Lightning GM, Julien BriseBois.
“I didn’t make the rules with the cap” Kucherov said. “I didn’t do anything on purpose.” Kucherov also added his surgery and five month of rehab which were not easy to endure. “And when the time came, I was playing.”
BriseBois followed up those remarks with “it was done by the rules.” The GM went on to explain that Tampa had to justify the surgery and rehab program with the league. He also added that the NHL investigated the matter as well.
“Sometimes the stars align for you,” he concluded. Yes, they most certainly did.