Devils getting Dougie Hamilton back for Wild clash

The New Jersey Devils are in the middle of a major slump. On Sunday night, they decided to keep Dougie Hamilton as a healthy scratch. This stoked the fire of Hamilton trade rumors from the Devils. Now, the team has made another decision regarding their blueliner.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe has announced that Hamilton will return to the lineup on Monday night against the Minnesota Wild, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Hamilton was a healthy scratch for the Sunday game against the Winnipeg Jets. His agent, J.P. Barry, was not happy about his client being scratched on Sunday.

“Barry feels this is a business decision to try to force Hamilton to accept a trade,” Elliotte Friedman said during the Saturday Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada. “Now, Hamilton did move to a partial no-trade clause this season. He can be traded to only one of 10 teams; the other 21 he can block.”

Hamilton has been a consistent subject of trade rumors. Still, his contract may be an issue. Not only can he block a trade to 21 teams, but he also has two years remaining on his deal with an AAV of $9 million, which is something many contending teams cannot afford.

“One thing we are aware of is that in the summer, San Jose did try to trade for him, and Hamilton blocked that move,” Friedman added.

Hamilton is having a down season and is part of the continued decline of the blueline. In 2022-2023, he played in all 82 games, setting career highs with 22 goals and 52 assists. The next season, he played in just 20 games due to injury, but did put up 16 points. Still, he has not been the same since. In 2024-2025, he played in 64 games with just 40 points.

So far this season, he has played 40 games, but with just ten points. That places him on pace for just 19 points this season, which would be the fewest since his rookie season with the Boston Bruins in 2012-2013, when he played just 42 games.

The team has won just twice in its last ten games. The Devils are now 22-21-2 on the year, placing them in sixth in the Metropolitan Division, and six points outside of a playoff spot. They take to the ice again, with Hamilton, on Monday night against the Wild.