Realistic Sign and Trade Packages for Dougie Hamilton

Earlier today Sportsnet Insider Elliotte Friedman dropped major news on Twitter when he reported that the Carolina Hurricanes are allowing superstar defenseman Dougie Hamilton to start talking to other teams.

With the Flyers needing a number one defensemen to pair with Ivan Provorov, the idea of a sign and trade for Hamilton seems to be perfect for them. With how much money Hamilton would be wanting, and the level of his play, this will not be a Kevin Hayes-like trade.

The Salary Cap Situation

First, let’s talk about what kind of money and how long Hamilton’s contract would be in this situation. With the Flyers seemingly tight against the cap, one would think that Chuck Fletcher would need to make some other moves to free up cap space, that is not the case.

• Erik Gustaffson and Michael Raffl’s dead money come off the books this offseason freeing up $1.9M in cap room.
• The Flyers also finally finished the Andrew MacDonald and David Schlemko buyouts this season giving them another $2.5M in cap to use.
• Travis Sanheim is up for a new contract this offseason too. He had previously been making $3.5M a year, and with the disastrous season he had Fletcher might not be so keen to give him a raise and might even package him in for Hamilton.

The only problem would be Carter Hart and his contract. The Flyers most likely would give him a 3-year bridge deal, most likely at $3.5M a year.

If the Flyers did sign Hart to that deal and made no other moves, they would have almost $9M to use in cap space.

Hamilton would most likely ask for the maximum number of years you can sign a player for in 7. At 27 years old ending this contract at 34 is not bad at all. Hamilton will also be looking for about the same amount of money Alex Pietrangelo signed for last offseason, around $9M.

The Trade

Usually, there are 2 types of offseason sign and trades in the NHL. The first type are the ones we saw with Kevin Hayes. A team sends a low draft pick for the rights to a player without a contract already agreed on. These are risky because if you trade for the player’s rights and he doesn’t want to sign, it’s a waste of a draft pick, usually why GM’s trade lower round picks.

The second is the traditional sign and trade where a player and two teams come to terms on a deal that allows the said player to sign somewhere else, and in return, the second team is given pieces that would free up roster and cap space on the first team.

If Fletcher were to trade for Hamilton, the smart move would be to try to negotiate a deal with both the Hurricanes and Hamilton to make sure he doesn’t make it to July 28th without a contract.

Here are a few realistic sign and trades for Hamilton.

1) Goodbye Travis

In this trade package, the Flyers no longer have to worry about Sanheim’s restricted free agency, allowing another team to have to take that contract and the money he’ll be demanding. The fifth round pick is also small insurance just in case Sanheim ends up signing an offer sheet that the Hurricanes don’t match.

2) Carolina goes all in

With the Hurricanes getting eliminated in the second round back-to-back seasons, they might be looking for another high-level player to help push the team over the top. Voracek led the Flyers in points and assists last season and would greatly benefit from being put on a team with that much offensive talent. And with the Hurricanes not signing Hamilton, that cap space will be open to eat Voracek’s contract.

3) Carolina gets a worse and cheaper Hamilton

Shayne Gostisbehere has been a part of multiple trade rumors over the past three seasons, but this might be the offseason he gets moved. With Carolina losing a defenseman, slotting in a guy like Gostisbehere who is coming off his best season since 2017-2018. The fourth round pick is mostly to sweeten up the idea of taking a player who just two seasons ago was a healthy scratch a majority of the time.

Hopefully, Fletcher can convince Hamilton to sign in Philadelphia as he would be the perfect partner for Ivan Provorov.

And remember Chuck, if you need more convincing just bring Hamilton to all the Museums we have here in Philadelphia.