Travis Hamonic and the Vancouver Canucks. Does He Stay?
Dan Murphy of Sportsnet (Mailbag): The pandemic season hurt Travis Hamonic early. With little training, he got injured early then missed over a month. Finally, he is back in a rhythm. What does one do if you are the Vancouver Canucks? Hamonic is developing into a good mentor for Quinn Hughes and their advanced numbers are slowly improving.
However, is that enough? The deal right now is team-friendly. Will the next one be just as much? The closer that question is to a yes, the better off Vancouver is going forward. Hamonic makes $1.25 million for this year with a no-move clause. The 30-year-old defenseman holds most of the cards as far as a potential trade. He gave up some dollars to have that right.
It is up to Jim Benning what happens.
Ben Kuzma of The Province: Most understand Travis Hamonic values family and fit as much as anything else.
‘We looked at (Vancouver) as a long-term situation of where we wanted to be for my career and family. I’ve loved every second of it and it’s been a good fit’
Interest grows with Hamonic on a daily basis and Vancouver knows this. They possess a trade chip and realize Hamonic is getting better and stronger. Teams like the Winnipeg Jets are interested. Winnipeg nearly signed the defenseman during the winter before the season started.
Teams that lose out on Mattias Ekholm or David Savard may circle back to Hamonic as well. The Christopher Tanev 2.0 comparisons have been inevitable and Vancouver’s UFA outlook with defensemen is murky. Alexander Edler and Jordie Benn are UFA’s and a couple of other defensemen may not be retained. The landscape in Vancouver will change.
Hamonic feels he has at least another level to get to and if he does, his value climbs that much more. The question is this. Is that value more important to the Vancouver Canucks or another team closer to the trade deadline?