The St. Louis Blues have to make some sort of change when it comes to the personnel on the defensive unit. There are a number of aging contracts that have to be moved in order to make way for some up-and-coming talent and/or to gather another established veteran for much cheaper.
With the messy situation in New Jersey with defenseman Dougie Hamilton, there are a couple of reasons why the Blues might want to dip their hand into the pot. General Manager Doug Armstrong might be able to work a little bit of his magic to erase a current d-man's largely overvalued contract and grab the 32-year-old defenseman for much cheaper than his $9 million AAV price tag.
Let's discuss.
Hamilton/Devils situation is nuclear
This season has been a bit better for Hamilton, as the past three seasons have seen the 6-foot, 6-inch defenseman out for a significant amount of time with injuries. In 40 games this season, he has five goals and five assists for 10 points, playing 21:41 a night.
Earlier this summer, the Devils tried to move Hamilton to San Jose, and he blocked the trade via his 10-team no-trade clause. These things happen, but the recent healthy scratches and the leak of that blocked trade have made the situation go from dormant to nuclear.
As it is hot in the news, this is a perfect opportunity for Armstrong to swoop in and sway the defenseman to the Blues. If it gets any bit better for the relationship between Hamilton and the Devils, it will get harder to get him for cheaper.
Could be a good fit
Hamilton could fit in nicely with the Blues via a one-for-one trade for Justin Faulk or Colton Parayko. Both defenseman currently on the Blues are near the same age as Hamilton, with Faulk being 33 and Parayko being 32. The main difference here is that everyone involved will be getting a change in scenery, and that could be an improvement. Almost like when Cam Fowler moved from Anaheim to the Blues last season and excelled.
As mentioned earlier, Hamilton is a pricy $9 million AAV, and Faulk and Parayko are worth $6.5 million. That is a vast difference, especially if the Blues want to try and save a bit of money and potentially enter a rebuilding phase with younger talent coming up. But Armstrong has shown an ability to sweeten the pot in his favor with contracts being retained by former teams, and that could happen again here.
If the Devils want to get rid of Hamilton that desperately, Armstrong can push Faulk, who is having a much better season than both Hamilton and Parayko, and get the Devils to hold on to 50% of Hamilton's contract. That would make the Blues only have to pay Hamilton $4.5 million over the next two seasons and change. The Devils also save a bit as well, as instead of paying $18 million for Hamilton over the next two seasons, they only have to pony up $9 million to Hamilton and then $6.5 million for Faulk for the last year of his current deal.
Not a bad idea, but it is still an aging defenseman for an aging defenseman. The only difference is that both teams can save some money and get some much-needed help on their blue line, with fresh faces.