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Travis Hamonic

Pacific Notes: Stephenson, Canucks, Russell

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After missing Friday’s game against Philadelphia for personal reasons, Vegas Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson should be available for Sunday’s home tilt against the Minnesota Wild, according to head coach Peter DeBoer. Stephenson’s brought lights-out play for a Vegas team that’s needed him this season with a slew of injuries, producing at a career-best pace with 22 points in 25 games. All that’s been done while playing steep minutes (19:48 a game) and spending time without his usual pair of elite wingers in Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. That line’s been reunited as Pacioretty and Stone are back healthy, and after Keegan Kolesar filled in down the middle for one game, Stephenson will return to his place atop the center depth chart for Vegas.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • There are some injury updates for the new and improved Vancouver Canucks under Bruce Boudreau, as the new head coach said today that Oliver Ekman-Larsson should be back next week, while Travis Hamonic is expected to miss two to three more weeks. While the team is undefeated under Boudreau, they’re facing a significant list of injuries. However, neither Ekman-Larsson nor Hamonic have been particularly impactful to start the year. Ekman-Larsson has just five points in 26 games to start his Vancouver career, a far cry from his peak of consistent 40-point campaigns. Hamonic has just an assist in nine contests as he’s found his way up and down between the NHL and AHL.
  • Injury news isn’t improving for the Edmonton Oilers defense, as head coach Dave Tippett notes that Kris Russell will be out for a couple of weeks. He joins Duncan Keith and Slater Koekkoek as Edmonton’s inactive blueliners. He’d been playing in an increased role with those injuries, but that responsibility now falls back on the shoulders of young defensemen Philip Broberg and William Lagesson.

Travis Hamonic Assigned To AHL

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The Vancouver Canucks have officially assigned Travis Hamonic to the AHL as they head out on a three-game road trip to the U.S. As Ben Kuzma of Postmedia points out on Twitter, Hamonic is not considered fully vaccinated, so if he traveled with the team he would face quarantine restrictions upon his return to Canada. Instead, the team has recalled Jack Rathbone for the trip and placed Luke Schenn on injured reserve.

In this case, Hamonic had already cleared waivers before the season began so won’t need to go through that process again until he plays in 10 games at the NHL level or spends 30 days on the active roster. The veteran defenseman has been in the lineup four times so far, playing a season-high 19:50 in last night’s overtime loss against the Anaheim Ducks.

Rathbone meanwhile isn’t just some last-minute call-up. The 22-year-old defenseman has already played eight games for Vancouver this season and appears to be a big part of their future on the back end. He recorded one point in two games for Abbotsford, but will get back on the road with the big club and receive another opportunity to show what he can do at the NHL level.

One thing to remember about the Hamonic demotion is that while in the AHL, only $1.125MM of his $3MM cap hit is buried. The team has Tyler Motte traveling with them as he approaches a return from LTIR, meaning the salary cap dance will get even more complicated in the coming weeks for Vancouver.

Travis Hamonic Recalled By Vancouver Canucks

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After just one game in the AHL, Travis Hamonic is back with the Vancouver Canucks. The veteran defenseman has been recalled to the NHL, with Jack Rathbone loaned back to the Abbotsford Canucks to make room.

Hamonic, 31, had previously taken an unpaid leave of absence from the team, cleared waivers and recently reported to Abbotsford. While in the AHL part of his $3MM cap hit had been buried, but now that he’s back with the NHL team the full thing will be carried by the Canucks. That pushes the team right up against the salary cap ceiling and in a tricky situation should anyone else face an injury that does not require placement on long-term injured reserve.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson happened to be missing from practice today, while Hamonic was working in on the second pairing alongside Kyle Burroughs, trading rushes with Luke Schenn. It’s unclear whether he will be inserted directly into the lineup for tomorrow night’s game against the New York Rangers, but he is obviously an important part of the Canucks when healthy.

In 38 games last season, Hamonic averaged more than 19 minutes a night with the vast majority of those coming next to Quinn Hughes. With the team struggling–Vancouver has just three wins in their first nine games–Hamonic will likely be a welcome addition whenever he is added to the lineup sheet.

Travis Hamonic Reports To Vancouver

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Oct 29: CapFriendly reports that Hamonic’s $3MM cap hit is now officially back on the books, though at the buried rate. Just $1.875MM counts toward the cap ceiling while he is in the minor leagues with Abbotsford. To make the money work, the team has also moved Tyler Motte to long-term injured reserve.

Oct 26: The Vancouver Canucks unveiled some good news ahead of their home opener on Tuesday, announcing that veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic had reported to the team. Hamonic had previously taken a leave of absence after failing to report to training camp. The team held out hope that he would report at some point this season and that has now come to fruition before the end of the first month of the season.

Hamonic and the Canucks have both been tight-lipped about the reason for his absence. It has been attributed only to “personal matters” without any further detail. GM Jim Benning also vaguely noted that the issue was “bigger than what you guys think it is” and the team was assisting Hamonic with getting help. This obviously raises questions, which won’t soon go away even after his return, but for now anything is just speculation.

Having cleared waivers previously, Hamonic will initially report to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks in the coming days. However, once the 31-year-old is up to speed he will surely join Vancouver. Hamonic recorded ten points in 38 games in his first season with the Canucks in 2020-21 and can still be a major piece of the puzzle even if he’s on the back end of this career. The Canucks have depth on the blue line, but Hamonic will still have a place on the team when ready.

Canucks’ Travis Hamonic Takes Leave Of Absence

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2:20pm: The Canucks have issued a statement, though it doesn’t clear much up:

General Manager Jim Benning announced today that defenseman Travis Hamonic has been placed on a temporary leave of absence. The mutually agreed upon leave of absence will give Travis time as he works through his personal matters. The team asks that media respect Travis’ privacy and the club will not be making any further comments on the matter at this time. 

CapFriendly clarifies, explaining that in the case of a leave of absence, his cap hit is entirely removed. With regards to the cap, this functions the same as suspended without pay. Satiar Shah of Sportsnet tweets that the Canucks’ preference is still to have Hamonic join the club this season, whenever he is able.

11:45pm: The Vancouver Canucks placed Travis Hamonic on waivers before the start of the season, after the veteran defenseman failed to appear at training camp because of a personal issue. The team did not expand on what exactly was keeping him away from the team, but decided to assign Hamonic to the minor leagues instead of suspending him. He hasn’t actually joined the Abbotsford Canucks yet, and today CapFriendly reports that Hamonic has now been suspended by the team.

When Vancouver moved him to the minors, it buried $1.125MM from his $3.0MM cap hit, giving them some extra room. He would have still received his salary, however, despite not playing any games to this point. Now he will be suspended without pay and his entire cap hit will come off the books.

The last time Canucks GM Jim Benning spoke directly about the situation, he told reporters that the personal issue was “bigger than what you guys think it is” and that they were helping Hamonic get the help he needed. There has been wild speculation, but it is not confirmed what is keeping him away from the ice. Hamonic was one of the few players to opt-out of the 2020 bubble playoffs but played 38 games for the Canucks last season.

Vancouver is already operating in long-term injured reserve space early this season, with Micheal Ferland, Brandon Sutter, and Brady Keeper all given the designation last week. Even so, they were very tight to the ceiling and wouldn’t have been able to deal with many short-term injuries very easily. Reducing Hamonic’s cap hit to zero allows them to make other recalls if necessary, as CapFriendly now has their unused LTIR relief pool at $1.95MM.

Travis Hamonic Re-Signing In Vancouver

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The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that the Vancouver Canucks will be bringing back defenseman Travis Hamonic. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman says it’s a two-year deal worth $3MM per season.

This always seemed like the most likely outcome for Hamonic, who has previously expressed a desire to play in western Canada and who fit in very nicely in Vancouver this past season. With the defense around him changing dramatically, Hamonic will be one of the few veteran holdovers on the Canucks blue line and with multi-year security should step further into a leadership role for the club.

More so, the 30-year-old showed this year that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. Always a dependable two-way defender with the New York Islanders, Hamonic’s offense fizzled out during his time in Calgary. However, he recorded ten points in just 38 games with Vancouver this season, an 82-game pace of 22 points which would have been higher than any season he spent with the Flames. Hamonic was also solid defensively, contributing to the penalty kill and finishing second on the team in blocked shots while cutting down on his turnovers. The Canucks did not ask Hamonic to play major minutes this past season and that could continue, but he will still be able to make an impact for the team in key situations.

North Notes: Hamonic, Maple Leafs, Gustavsson

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Going back to his time with the Islanders, Canucks defenseman Travis Hamonic has wanted to play in Western Canada.  At the trade deadline this year, it’s believed that he vetoed a trade as he wanted to stay close to home.  However, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link), the 30-year-old is willing to consider all options around the league this time around as he heads for unrestricted free agency again next month.  Hamonic isn’t going to put up many points (he last surpassed the 20-point plateau in 2015-16) but he has a reputation as a sound stay-at-home defender that can play top-four minutes.  His location limitations hurt his market last fall which resulted in a one-year, $1.25MM pact but with him being open to more teams now, he may be able to beat that this time around.

More from the North Division:

  • With Toronto facing significant cap challenges with their four high-paid forwards, it would stand to reason that they shouldn’t be going after a high-priced free agent. However, Sportsnet’s Luke Fox posits that the Maple Leafs should at least consider taking a run at Carolina blueliner Dougie Hamilton, who has permission to speak to other teams about a contract.  Such a move would require at least one significant contract coming off the books – perhaps Morgan Rielly – but Fox notes that they kicked the tires on Alex Pietrangelo last fall which suggests that GM Kyle Dubas may be willing to ponder a big swing again.
  • The Senators appear to be leaning towards protecting Filip Gustavsson over Joey Daccord for their protected goaltender from Seattle in expansion, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. While the 23-year-old doesn’t have great AHL numbers (a 3.20 GAA with a .894 SV% in 75 games), the pending restricted free agent certainly impressed in a late-season run with Ottawa with a 2.16 GAA and a .933 SV% in nine appearances.  Daccord, meanwhile, has better career numbers in the minors but hasn’t had much NHL success and posted a 3.27 GAA and a .897 SV% in eight games this season.  He has one year left on his deal at the league-minimum $750K.

North Notes: Weber, Oilers, Tkachuk, Hamonic

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The Department of Player Safety announced that they have fined Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber $5,000, the maximum fine allowable in the CBA,  for cross-checking Toronto’s Wayne Simmonds Saturday during Game 2 of the playoffs.

The veteran forward was not assessed a penalty against Simmonds on the play, but did receive a two-minute minor for cross-checking on Toronto’s Pierre Engvall during the third period and later received a 10-minute misconduct. Montreal received seven minor penalties during their 5-1 loss to Toronto.

  • The Edmonton Oilers look to be making several lineup changes after falling 2-0 to the Winnipeg Jets in their first-round matchup, according to Oilers insider Bob Stauffer. With the hope of being faster on the ice, the team is scratching James Neal, Dominik Kahun and Alex Chiasson, while bringing Tyler Ennis, Gaetan Haas and Devin Shore. The team has also split up defensemen Tyson Barrie and Darnell Nurse, while demoting forward Kailer Yamamoto to the third line.
  • Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk, who is eligible to sign an extension with the team, tells Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg that he hasn’t spoken to Flames’ management about a new contract. The 23-year-old has one more year remaining at a $7MM AAV, but also will have a qualifying offer of $9MM when he becomes a restricted free agent. That’s a lot of money for a player that hasn’t taken that next step the team was hoping for. Tkachuk scored 34 goals and 77 points during the 2018-19 season and looked to be developing into a star player. However, those numbers have dropped to 23 goals and 61 points in 69 2019-20 and then 16 goals and 43 points in 56 games this season. There’s even been talk of Calgary making major changes this year, which could, in theory, include Tkachuk as well.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have high hopes they can re-sign defenseman Travis Hamonic to a new contract for the upcoming season. Hamonic, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, played 38 games for Vancouver, mostly pairing with Quinn Hughes and fared well, despite dealing with injuries and rust. However, The Province’s Ben Kuzma reports that general manager Jim Benning said that there is interest in bringing back Hamonic, assuming the two sides can reach a reasonable deal. The 30-year-old signed a one-year deal worth $1.25MM in hopes of staying in Western Canada, suggesting a deal is legitimately possible.

Trade Rumors: Pearson, Hamonic, Andersen, Canadiens

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The Tanner Pearson saga in Vancouver has been full of twists and turns and the ride isn’t over just yet. Early this month, reports emerged that the Canucks preferred to re-sign rather than trade the impending free agent Pearson. The two-way forward excelled in Vancouver last season and GM Jim Benning and company seemed more interested in keeping him around rather than shipping him off, even as arguably their most valuable rental chip. However, at the time contract talks had not yet occurred and this led to the assumption that the Canucks would have to move Pearson if terms of an extension could not be reached before the trade deadline. Two weeks later, it seemed the decision had been taken from the Canucks. Pearson suffered a lower-body injury and was given a four-week timeline for his recovery, meaning he would be injured through the deadline and much more difficult to trade, if not impossible in a quiet, cap-strapped market. The only silver lining was that perhaps the two sides would be more amenable to an extension with Pearson missing considerable time in his already-shortened contract year. Now, everything has changed yet again. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that Pearson is already preparing to resume skating and is expected to return to action ahead of the deadline. After receiving a second opinion on his injury, Pearson’s timeline was moved up and could return to his status as a viable deadline acquisition. As for the possibility of an extension instead? Johnston states that the two sides still  have not had any contract talks and he believes that the Canucks will have no choice but to trade a soon-to-be healthy Pearson before the deadline if no contract terms are in place. Time is running out to keep the extension option open, as the deadline is now just two weeks away.

  • One player who definitely won’t be leaving Vancouver: Travis Hamonic. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Carolina Hurricanes have been seeking a veteran, stay-at-home right-handed defenseman and inquired about Hamonic. They were told that he is not available. The Canucks signed Hamonic just before the season started to a one-year, short-money deal, but the key piece of the contract for the respected vet was a full No-Movement Clause. Hamonic wants to stay at home in western Canada and is not expected to waive his NMC. Perhaps an offer from the Edmonton Oilers is the only chance that Hamonic is on the move before the deadline.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs’ situation in net is certainly murky right now, but Friedman did his best to provide some clarity. He reports that starter Frederik Andersen is not currently participating in any on-ice work. Instead, he is undergoing “different evaluations” on his nagging lower-body injury and is sidelined indefinitely. Yet, Friedman also notes that Toronto is not actively searching the trade market for another goaltender either. Jack Campbell has played well since returning from his own injury, Michael Hutchinson has been stellar when forced into action this season as well, and the team just recently added some more net depth via trade in Veini Vehvilainen. The Leafs seem content to roll with this trio for now in anticipation of Andersen eventually returning to action. With limited cap room, the team can ill-afford to add another netminder that they may not need. Unless Andersen lands on Long-Term Injured Reserve, expect the Maple Leafs to stand pat in net.
  • After adding Eric Staal, even at a surprisingly affordable cost, the Montreal Canadiens may be done dealing. GM Marc Bergevin told the media that he is not looking to open up cap space for any further moves, limiting Montreal’s ability to make another addition. With Staal on the roster, the Habs’ deadline cap space is currently projected to be around $2.25MM. However, that number is inflated due to Paul Byron’s current taxi squad status. As Byron spends game days on the NHL roster and only off days on the taxi squad, his $3.4MM cap hit will chip away at that space, likely leaving the Candiens with closer to $1.75MM at best by the deadline. Bergevin noted that “anything is possible” but unless faced with a hockey trade that he cannot pass up, Montreal is limited to adding only a minor salary to the roster without reversing course on the decision not to seek options to create more cap space.

 

Canucks Notes: Pearson, Virtanen, Hamonic

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The Vancouver Canucks have yet to extend a contract offer to pending unrestricted free agent Tanner Pearson according to Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic, though his colleague Thomas Drance expects things to get “more serious” this week between the two sides. Pearson, 28, carries a $3.75MM cap hit this season in the last year of a four-year, $15MM deal he signed with the Los Angeles Kings in 2017. That contract came after Pearson set a career-high in goals with 24, a total he would have exceeded last season with the Canucks had the season not been cut short.

Unfortunately, that outstanding 21-goal, 45-point player that the Canucks had last season hasn’t emerged this time around. Pearson has just five goals and 10 points in 31 games so far, likely costing himself money on his next contract by the day. Still, there’s no doubting how trusted he is by the Vancouver coaching staff, especially after playing at least 19:30 in three of his last four games (including a whopping 22:33 against the Montreal Canadiens last week).

  • Jake Virtanen has been shopped around by the Canucks on several occasions, but Irfaan Gaffar of The Fourth Period tweets that the enigmatic forward now may not be moved by the trade deadline unless there is an offer GM Jim Benning “can’t refuse.” Virtanen, 24, has just three goals and hasn’t recorded a single assist in 26 games this season. Trading him now would certainly be selling at the lowest point, but the Canucks are going to need to move out salary somehow over the coming months. Virtanen’s $2.55MM cap hit through 2021-22 now looks like a massive overpay, despite the 18 goals and 36 points he put up last season.
  • Travis Hamonic is a player who wants to stay with the Canucks if possible, but knows that he is a little further down the pecking line when it comes to extensions. The veteran defenseman told Ben Kuzma of The Province that he saw Vancouver as a potential long-term fit for his family when he decided to sign a one-year, $1.25MM deal and would love to stick around past this season if possible. The Manitoba native will hit unrestricted free agency again this summer and has been clear in the past that he wants to continue playing in Western Canada. Hamonic holds a full no-trade clause this season.

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