Dougie Hamilton could pull a John Tavares in Toronto as well!

It’s not easy to forget how John Tavares chose to leave the New York Islanders as a free agent to sign a monster deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs in order to make his childhood dream come true. 

Now that the offseason is just weeks away, fans are wondering if we could see history repeat itself as the Carolina Hurricanes recently gave star defenseman Dougie Hamilton permission to speak with other teams ahead of the opening of free agency. If Carolina isn’t willing to pay Hamilton enough to entice hime to stay then it opens the door for a rare sign-and-trade. That would also ensure the pending unrestricted free agent could ink an eight-year deal as opposed to a maximum seven-year deal if he were to hit the open market.

There is no doubt that Hamilton will be popular on the market and is expected to get a significant raise from his current $5.75-million annual salary cap hit after garnering Norris Trophy votes in each of the past five seasons.

The big question came from several fans now : are we supposed to get ready for another Tavares situation in Toronto. As some of them pointed out, Hamilton grew up a Maple Leafs fan, just like Toronto, and it has people wondering what general manager Kyle Dubas could do to land a top blue liner like Hamilton. It sounds impossible. 

However, it’s been known around that league that Dubas has reportedly coveted Hamilton through the years. According to one report revealed by ESPN, Dubas asked Hamilton from the Hurricanes during trade talks involving Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen before this season — which was shut down. 

On Friday, Elliotte Friedman admitted it could see it happen. 

The addition of Hamilton in Toronto would be hard on the Leafs’ wallet however, which would most likely result, according to ESPN, in trading away 27-year-old defenseman Morgan Rielly, who makes $5 million annually and is entering the last year of his contract. It’s a path they should consider, as Hamilton’s the better player.

Would Leafs fans accept this deal to make Dougie’s dreams come true?