Hamilton agrees to seven-year, $63 million contract with Devils

Dougie Hamilton agreed to a seven-year, $63 million contract with the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday. It has an average annual value of $9 million.

The 28-year-old defenseman, who was an unrestricted free agent, scored 42 points (10 goals, 32 assists) in 55 regular-season games for the Carolina Hurricanes last season and five points (two goals, three assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"I think, for me, I was trying to find what would make me happy and where I would be happy in all different situations. I think that was kind of the biggest thing," Hamilton said Thursday. "What factors would make me happy and I tried to look into that as much as I could and I think I'm pretty happy right now but I'm sure I'll be happy as I get to New Jersey and meet the guys and the staff and all that stuff.
"Obviously it's a big thing in life where I'm going to be spending a lot of time moving forward. So, spent a lot of time thinking about it and it's definitely a relief to be done and be able to focus on New Jersey now and kind of have a direction where I'm going. Definitely very, very excited so it's been a great couple days and really happy and definitely a relief for sure."
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Selected by the Boston Bruins with the No. 9 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, Hamilton has scored 341 points (106 goals, 235 assists) in 607 regular-season games for the Bruins, Calgary Flames and Hurricanes and 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 54 playoff games.
Hamilton has scored 84 goals since the 2015-16 season, second among NHL defensemen behind Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks (103).
"We are thrilled to welcome Dougie and his family to the New Jersey Devils organization," Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said Wednesday. "As a player and person, he has consistently shown a commitment to excellence and will play a leading role in our franchise's return to an elite level in the League.
"We believe that the magnitude of his contributions on the ice will be equal to his impact on our culture as we continue to position ourselves for long-term success. I am proud of the work our entire staff did to promote the amazing attributes of this organization and to bring aboard one of the most sought-after free agents this year."
Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell, who said Saturday that signing Hamilton was
Carolina's "No. 1 objective,"
said he was comfortable with the final offer the Hurricanes made.
"We had lots of talks with his representation and just couldn't get to where they felt it needed to be," Waddell said. "In a salary cap world, you want to make sure you spend your money wisely. Dougie was a big part of our hockey team here. We've got forward
[Andrei] Svechnikov
coming up on his contract, (center) Martin Necas next year. We want to be a good team for a long time and we just felt we made our offer, an eight-year offer that was right where we felt the market would be for us and for him.
"He earned the right to be a free agent. These guys play and get this opportunity to be a UFA and he wanted to see what the market was."
The Devils finished seventh in the eight-team MassMutual East Division last season and have qualified for the playoffs once in the past nine seasons.
Forwards Nico Hischier (22) and Jack Hughes (20), and defenseman Ty Smith (21) are part of a young core that Hamilton is excited to join.
"That's a big thing for sure," Hamilton said. "I was traded to Carolina a couple years ago (June 23, 2018) and they were kind of in a similar boat where they're on the rise with a lot of young guys and I was able to be a part of that and help the growth of their team so when I looked at New Jersey's team, there were so many young talented players and I'm really excited to be able to play with them and I can help them in some ways and I'm sure they'll help me as well so I'm looking forward to that for sure."
The Devils signed Jonathan Bernier to a two-year, $8.25 million contract earlier Wednesday. It has an average annual value of $4.125 million.
The goalie, who turns 33 on Aug. 7, was an unrestricted free agent. He was 9-11-1 with a 2.99 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 24 games (23 starts) for the Detroit Red Wings last season.
The Hurricanes acquired Bernier in a trade with the Red Wings for goalie Alex Nedeljkovic on July 22. Carolina also received a third-round pick (No. 94) in the 2021 NHL Draft.
New Jersey on Wednesday traded Will Butcher and a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to the Buffalo Sabres for future considerations.
The 26-year-old defenseman scored 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) in 23 games for the Devils last season. Selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the fifth round (No. 123) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Butcher has scored 106 points (14 goals, 92 assists) in 238 regular-season games with New Jersey and four points (one goal, three assists) in five playoff games.
NHL.com staff writers Mike G. Morreale and Tom Gulitti contributed to this report