According to a new report from The Fourth Period, the Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in acquiring Dougie Hamilton from the New Jersey Devils. There is some ambiguity in the reasoning behind the report, though it stands to reason that the Maple Leafs could benefit from a defenseman of Hamilton’s archetype.
To start, the report expands on a report from David Pagnotta last month, articulating that Toronto is scouring the trade market for a puck-moving defenseman. The principal expansion came from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun segment on Insider Trading yesterday, indicating that the Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes would be ideal fits for the 32-year-old blue liner.
Being an ideal fit doesn’t necessarily mean that Toronto is actively engaging in conversations with New Jersey regarding Hamilton, though signs are pointing in that direction. The Maple Leafs have also been connected to Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who plays a similar style to Hamilton. For what it’s worth, in terms of their similarity scores, which are devised by point shares, Hamilton is nearly identical in value to retired defenseman P.K. Subban.
Still, there are a few hangups with Hamilton being traded to the Maple Leafs. For starters, Hamilton has a 10-team trade list (effectively a 21-team no-trade list), and there’s no indication that Toronto is on there. Hamilton’s agent, J.P. Barry, stated last week that they were open to broadening that list for the right opportunity. If he has any desire to play for a playoff-caliber team, the Maple Leafs serve as a better option in that regard for the time being.
Furthermore, the major sticking point is that Hamilton is owed a $9MM salary through the 2027-28 campaign. That’s not something that Toronto will easily be able to absorb. They would likely need the Devils to retain in some fashion, and they may be unwilling to do so since the whole point of moving Hamilton is to clear salary off the roster. Still, there is an argument to be made that retaining some of Hamilton’s salary will be less than what they are paying him now, effectively getting what they want, just not to the degree they had hoped for.
Technically, the Maple Leafs could get there, but they would likely need to place defenseman Chris Tanev on the LTIR, which would open up approximately $3.8MM in room. Additionally, if a forward like Matias Maccelli ($3.425MM) went to New Jersey in the hypothetical swap, Toronto could get close to making it work.
Among the reasons why Toronto would consider acquiring Hamilton, enhancing the power play stands out as the most significant factor. They’ve been much better with a man advantage lately, though little of that production is coming from the blue line.
Through their first 35 games, the Maple Leafs had averaged a 13.3% success rate on the power play, eventually leading the team to fire Marc Savard a few days before Christmas. Since then, in their next 11 contests, they’ve been clicking at a 28% rate. Still, Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, both of whom are the quarterbacks on their respective units, have combined for eight points, all assists. Hamilton is only a few years removed from having 28 power-play points himself.
Regardless, despite his potential value to Toronto, the hurdles of Hamilton’s contract remain.