New York Islanders

New York Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic is on the trade block, which can equate into a precarious situation for Garth Snow.

By Justin Weiss

New York Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic is on the trade block.

Elliott Friedman of Sportsnet first reported Wednesday that the New York Islanders are actively shopping Hamonic, who is currently under contract for four more seasons.

This, Isles fans, is a game changer.

Originally citing the move to Brooklyn as a reason for the sudden rumors, Friedman’s theory was changed when both Darren Dreger of TSN and Arthur Staple of Newsday reported that Hamonic (or “Hammer” as he is nicknamed) had asked for a trade before the season because of personal family concerns in West Canada, and would prefer to play in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary or Vancouver.

This puts Islanders GM Garth Snow in a very precarious situation.

Snow is in a position to get fleeced here.

While the Isles’ decision-maker likely has a suitor in the Oilers, it would be hard to receive a return of equal or greater value for the right-handed defenseman, courtesy of Hamonic’s cap-friendly salary and intimidating play in the defensive zone.

Additionally, look at a store going out of buisness. Prices are slashed because it’s obvious that everything must sell. That appears to be the case here, as the Manitoba native has requested to be traded — and would like to be in Canada before the end of the season.

Being realistic, it’s hard to envision the Isles receiving a top-end defenseman in return. Some fans have thrown out the names of guys like Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers, Jiri Hudler and Dennis Wideman of the Calgary Flames, Jason Pominville of the Minnesota Wild and Tyler Myers of the Winnipeg Jets.

Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal believes otherwise:

That leaves Justin Schultz, but he just revealed he’s had a bulging disc in his back that needed rest. That’s a buyer beware for any team, although Schultz has certainly played the same big minutes here when healthy as Hamonic (22:44 on average through his NHL career) does with the Islanders.

(…)

Maybe the Flames would offer up Dougie Hamilton, 22, who has struggled there since they got him from Boston for a first-round pick and two seconds in the 2015 draft.

Canucks’ GM Jim Benning, who used to work for the Bruins, would certainly know Hamonic’s value, too. But, would he trade Chris Tanev, also 25, for him?

Would the Islanders ask for winger Jordan Eberle for Hamonic? Probably. But that doesn’t solve the Islanders’ hole on defence. The Islanders aren’t deep in wingers who can score, but Eberle, 25, is the Oilers’ best sniper. Most likely, the Oilers would be mentioning Nail Yakupov’s name in some sort of package, long before Eberle.

Player AGE CONTRACT P +/- GA/60 CORSI
Hamonic 25 $3.85M/20 3 5 2.01 4.3
Eberle 25 $6M/19 2 -3 4.24 6.3
Hudler 31 $4M/16 13 -7 3.88 1.8
Wideman 32 $4.25M/17 8 -11 3.66 -4.4
Pominville 32 $5.6M/19 8 2 1.73 -1.6
Myers 25 $5.5M/19 6 -7 2.17 -3.2

*Eberle, Hudler and Pominville are all forwards. Contract column is average salary/GA year.

Fan Reaction 

Isles Facebook documented the complaints of some fans on social media:

Hamonic speaks

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Justin Weiss
Justin Weiss is a staff editor at Elite Sports New York, where he covers the New York Islanders and Brooklyn Cyclones. In 2016, he received a Quill Award for Freelance Journalism. He has written for the Long Island Herald, FanSided and YardBarker.

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