Donnie & Dhali: Rick Dhaliwal on Vancouver Canucks defenseman Travis Hamonic: “Things I heard over the weekend are Mr. Hamonic is thinking about retirement, sitting out this season, everything is on the table. Everything is family related.”
Vancouver Hockey Now: A source who is close to Travis Hamonic said that Hamonic may now prefer to play for a U.S. team and the Canucks are considering a trade. It’s believed that he is not vaccinated and playing for a U.S. team would mean less cross-border travel.
Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province: The Vancouver Canucks could be without Travis Hamonic. His absence led some to believe to be around the COVID protocols for players who are not vaccinated.
This Friday is the deadline for players to opt-out for the season. Hamonic opted out of the 2020 playoff bubble. His daughter was in the hospital with a serious respiratory infection.
Canucks GM Jim Benning last Wednesday said he believed Hamonic would arrive at some point and that the team will be 100 percent vaccintated.
Yesterday Benning didn’t want to say much Hamonic potentially opting out, or how to to use the potentially $3 million, or what happens if he retires.
“He’s dealing with a personal issue and I think everybody should just leave it alone,” stressed Benning. “I don’t know why people think with everything that’s going on in the world that when we make a statement about a personal issue, people think they can stick their noses in it.
“Just leave the guy alone and let him figure out what he needs to figure out. I’m in constant communication with his agent (Kevin Epp) and he’s got a decision to make with how he’s feeling about everything. When he lets me know, we’ll work from there.
“As for now, there’s nothing to figure out. Let’s give it the time and see where he’s at Thursday or Friday and go from there.”
Cam Robinson: If Travis Hamonic forfeits his salary to sit out the year or retires, it would give the Canucks a huge opportunity to re-sign both Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson to long-term deals. It’s possible with about $18 million in cap space.
Cam Robinson: Hamonic not playing would make their defense even weaker, but that is an issue regardless.