With the CBA now formally ratified, the narrow window for players to officially opt out of returning to play is now open. Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic is the first to do so, as he released a statement through his agency Titan Sports 365 (Twitter link) indicating that he will not be participating for family reasons. His daughter has had a significant battle with a life-threatening respiratory virus in the past while Hamonic has a new baby boy as well so he is erring on the side of caution.
Following the announcement, Flames GM Brad Treliving issued the following statement:
Earlier this evening Travis called me to inform us that he has decided to opt out of the NHL Return to Play Program. Travis explained that due to family considerations, he has made the difficult decision not to participate in the Stanley Cup Qualifier and Playoffs.
While we will miss Travis in our line-up, we understand and respect his decision. Our focus remains on preparation for training camp and our upcoming series in the NHL Qualifying Round.
Hamonic’s absence will be a notable one as, when healthy, he is one of Calgary’s most effective defensive blueliners. He logged more than 21 minutes a night this season including a team-high 3:06 per night on the penalty kill on a unit that was inside the NHL’s top ten. Their trade deadline additions of Derek Forbort and Erik Gustafsson will become that much more important now from a depth perspective, especially with the potential hesitance to bring back Juuso Valimaki.
As for Hamonic, the 29-year-old has now played his final game before being eligible to hit unrestricted free agency in October. Him opting out shouldn’t hurt his market at all as his reputation of being a strong stay-at-home defender is well-known and earned so he should still be among the second tier of rearguards that should garner considerable interest this offseason.
stick it to that “hockey culture” Travis! This man certainly knows what’s best for hia family.
If I had to bet on it, I’d bet that Hamonic will not be getting very good offers in free agency now. And that’s not making a judgement on his decision one way or the other, but NHL teams are known to frown upon non-team friendly decisions. We shall see.
@Gbear – Exactly what I was thinking. It’s one thing for other players to be dopes to someone who puts family first, but you can almost smell the lack of quality offers coming his way. The rest of the league gets to use the pandemic-caused flat cap as their excuse. Most of us see this as tremendous character by Travis. Good on him! Now, I’d love to see the Flames step up with a respectable offer in the fall.
The flames have no cap space. The plan all along was to let Brodie and/or Hamonic walk.
@wreckage – If they let Brodie go, they could finagle a bit to keep Travis, as long as he’s amenable to a contract close to his current number (assuming Brad T. would like to go there)…
Don Cherry is gone.
I can’t think of any current GM that would worry about that if the fit and money was right.
Hamonic will not get very good offers but it will be because his role has been devalued and he’s older.
@forwhomjoshbelltolls – He’s only 29, same as Brodie (Stone too, but he doesn’t really count), and has been a decent stay-at-home D-man. Forbort & Gustafsson are both 27, so not a huge gap there. His ATOI is second only to Gio, basically the same as Hanifin. I don’t see him as quite that devalued, yet, but, as you say, he might not get good offers if the rest of the league sees him that way.
With the cap crunch, the move towards youth, etc. I think he was/is looking at an AAV around $4 M or under, so…not saying he’s going hungry or anythin…this type of player no longer breaks the bank.
But, I don’t think any GM is going to decide he’s “soft” because he opted out here.
They may not be vocal about it like Don Cherry would be, but the old “there’s no I in team” approach still exists. If it’s a close call in a talent decision between a player who maybe took a risk and one who didn’t, you know which way GM’s will decide on that.
@Gbear – I have to believe that there may be one or two GMs that would buck that trend, though. We all know GMs that would never do it, even if an owner demanded it, but I think there could be a couple that might try to be trendsetters. No inside knowledge, mind you, just a gut feel…
@Mac – No doubt there will be some teams that won’t hold that against a player, but they may also not be looking for that type of player either. Less options likely means less $$$.
@Gbear – Unfortunately, for Travis, and some others, this is very true.
a mans gotta take care of his family first, nothing but respect and well wishes for his daughter