New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe is expected to make one giant change to his lineup ahead of the team’s two game road trip against the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild.
A 6-foot-6 change to be exact.
With Johnathan Kovacevic expected to return to the Devils’ lineup on Sunday afternoon, as long as he feels good to go, Keefe confirmed that Hamilton will be the odd one out and serve as a healthy scratch.
“If (Kovacevic) wakes up feeling good, then the intention is to have him play, and then Dougie is the odd man out,” Keefe said Saturday afternoon.
During the team’s practice at RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House in Newark, Kovacevic was reunited with Jonas Siegenthaler while Dougie Hamilton worked alongside Colton White.
“On the right side, we wanted to give (Simon Nemec) an opportunity to get his game back going,” Keefe explained. “Pesce isn’t going anywhere. We just talked about what (Kovacevic) can bring and wanted to get him back involved.”
Nemec returned from his own undisclosed injury on Jan 8 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and was paired with Brenden Dillon.
Hamilton signed a seven-year contract worth $63,000,000 with an average annual value of $9,000,000 with the Devils on July 28, 2021. He has a 10-team trade list as part of his no-movement clause. At the conclusion of his deal he will be 35-years-old and an unrestricted free agent.
“As a player and person, he has consistently shown a commitment to excellence and will play a leading role in our franchise’s return to an elite level in the League,” Fitzgerald said in the press release. “We believe that the magnitude of his contributions on the ice will be equal to his impact on our culture as we continue to position ourselves for long-term success. I am proud of the work our entire staff did to promote the amazing attributes of this organization and to bring aboard one of the most sought-after free agents this year.”
Five years later, things have appeared to turn sour as Hamilton’s agent, J.P. Barry, released the following statement on Saturday to NHL insider Pierre LeBrun: “Dougie was informed today that he will be not be playing now that Kovacevic is back in the lineup. 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.”
Through 40 games this season, Hamilton has 10 points (five goals, five assists). He’s averaged a little over 21 minutes of ice time and leads all Devils defensemen with 107 shots on goal.
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