The New Jersey Devils are officially into the offseason, looking for some good key players they can add to their team for next season. In addition, the Devils are looking for some long term players, as well.
Those two combinations are exactly what the organization found in defenseman Dougie Hamilton, a free agent who signed a whopping seven-year contract with the team. The contract is for $63 million.
Latest Details On The Signing
The contract signing is quite a big deal for the Devils, as the team now has $9 million left in salary cap.
The contract, which was signed Wednesday, July 28, is the biggest one that has been signed as of right now.
Additionally, this is a very good deal for both Hamilton and the Devils. Hamilton was originally known as a top free agent in the market. He is a great defenseman and will certainly provide a huge pack of defense for the Devils’ offense.
Hamilton is an elite defenseman, considered the best player in the league and has the ability to score very well from the blue line.
But that’s not all, Hamilton has a pretty good record to look at, with 15 goals and 45 points in an 82-game season.
Hamilton also finished off 100 career goals during the 2020-21 season, making him an impressive player that the Devils just had to sign.
Now that Hamilton is a part of the Devils’ team, he will make a great pairing along the ice with the other top defeneman the team currently has right now, including P.K. Subban, Will Butcher and Ty Smith just to name a few.
A Look At What’s Next For The Devils
It is still pretty early in the offseason, meaning the Devils have plenty of time to add some more terrific players on the roster to better enhance their team overall for the upcoming season.
Of course, the ultimate goal is the have a successful season, which means qualifying for the Stanley Cup and winning the trophy this year.
With the roster sort of molding together and the new players that could be signed soon, there’s a positive sign for the Devils that they could have more of a hopeful outcome this season than they did in the last one.
Taking everything into consideration, the Devils want to recreate their team into a stronger, efficient one. This is understandable, looking at the fact that they did conclude the 2020-21 season with a 19-30-7 record. This team will certainly be looking to turn things around this fall.
Speaking of the fall, they have some interesting matchups scheduled for them. For example, they kick off the season with a home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks, but then take on the Seattle Kraken four days later.
On Oct. 21, the Devils play against the Washington Capitals and, looking further down the schedule, they will visit the Pittsburgh Penguins.
These are just a few of the Devils’ upcoming matches that will certainly be of interest. With the team’s roster sort of changing for the good, it will be entertaining to watch how the Devils perform all season long. They have some challenging matchups ahead, so that will be especially interesting to see how they do during those games.
You can “Like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers, along with Katelyn