Dougie Hamilton may not be hitting the free agent market after all
With NHL free agency just four days away, one of the biggest names set to hit the market was defenceman Dougie Hamilton. The 28-year-old has finished the final season of a six-year contract paying him $5.75 million, and was bound to have plenty of teams vying for his services in free agency. However, we're now hearing he might not be available as he and the Carolina Hurricanes have been involved in talks over the last couple of days.
"GM Don Waddell says that the team and Dougie Hamilton 'have gotten closer' on a contract over time, after he went out and checked the market," said ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
"I feel pretty good that we'll be able to get this done," Waddell continued.
Outside of Gabriel Landeskog, Hamilton was likely to be the biggest name hitting free agency. There are sure to be many disappointed NHL GMs if he gets a new contract with Carolina. TSN's Darren Dreger said he believes Hamilton's next contract, wherever it comes from, will be in the $8 to $9 million range.
Hamilton may be only 28, but he has 607 regular season games under his belt. He's recorded 106 goals and 341 points in that time. Besides Carolina, he's also played for Boston - which drafted him 9th overall in 2009 - and the Calgary Flames.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Seth Jarvis | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cody Glass | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Bryan Rust | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Grzelcyk | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jordan Martinook | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Anthony Beauvillier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Owen Power | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rickard Rakell | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Michael Bunting | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Victor Olofsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Dmitry Orlov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alex Pietrangelo | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 45 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 65 | |
Jets | 46 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 65 | |
Oilers | 45 | 29 | 13 | 3 | 61 | |
Golden Knights | 45 | 29 | 13 | 3 | 61 | |
Wild | 45 | 27 | 14 | 4 | 58 | |
Maple Leafs | 46 | 28 | 16 | 2 | 58 | |
Devils | 47 | 26 | 15 | 6 | 58 | |
Stars | 44 | 28 | 15 | 1 | 57 | |
Hurricanes | 46 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 57 | |
Kings | 42 | 25 | 12 | 5 | 55 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||