Everyone knows Travis Hamonic wanted to be traded before the 2015-16 season but after the season decided to rescind the idea of a trade after the playoffs when the Islanders made their first playoff berth since 1993.
Travis Hamonic
When Travis first wanted to leave New York he stated he wanted to be closer to home for personal reasons which is understandable. Hamonic comes from Manitoba outside of the Winnipeg area. When he first wanted to be traded everyone thought he was going to the Winnipeg Jets and it could be a possible swap of defenseman Hamonic for Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba who has stated his frustrations and would like to leave the Jets.
However, the Jets did not want to just part ways with the young talented defenseman for nothing.
Calgary Flames
ICYMI: #Flames GM Brad Treliving talks about the trade that brought defenceman Travis Hamonic to #yyc! pic.twitter.com/sFMydRa48z
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) June 25, 2017
Today the Calgary Flames made an offer we suppose the Islanders could not turn down (even though they could have gotten the 2 first round picks they wanted). The Islanders will receive the Flames 2018 first round pick and 2 second round picks, one in 2018 and the option between 2019 or 2020 draft. With Hamonic, however, the Islanders are also sending a fourth-round pick in either 2019 or 2020.
With this trade, the Calgary Flames boost their blue line when you thought it could not get any better.
The Flames already have Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton, and TJ Brodie. With this new pick at a fair price Calgary Flames now have a possible all-star defensive core. With such a great core on defense, the Flames are also developing an even better core offense with Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk.
This year The Flames won the first wildcard spot in the Western Conference, where they were swept by the Anaheim Ducks. Next year Calgary could potentially be a favorite to go to the Stanley Cup Final in the Western Conference.
What are the Islanders planning?
With the Islanders trading Travis Hamonic they get rid of a seven-year deal worth $27 million dollars with 3 years remaining coming to an average annual value of $3.86 million dollars.
This does clear some cap room. However, they do lose a 27-year-old who in 49 games this past year blocked an average of 2.2 shots a game and put in 20 minutes of ice time a game.
This is a lot for the Islanders to give up for no immediate players in return. Earlier in the week, they traded Ryan Strome for Jordan Eberle and also traded Mikhail Grabovski to Vegas to clear cap space. Those two together had 55 points for the Islanders. (Ryan Strome had 30 and Mikhail Grabovski had 25). With all of this happening it will be very interesting to see what the Islanders plan to do for next year if they target more guys in free agency or with trades even though they do not have many assets to give up.
The Islanders now have around $9 million in salary cap space so it will be interesting to see what they do with it. Many put the Islanders in potential trade talk with Colorado on the idea of getting Matt Duchene. While the Islanders could give up some prospects it is a very long shot they actually do fill their No. 2 center position with a trade.
Around the league
With the Islanders clearing some players out this week they are not the only team we should watch this coming week before free agency opens on July 1st. After a trade with Arizona before the draft, the Rangers now are predicted to have around $20 million dollars in salary cap space so it will be interesting to see what happens in Manhattan.
The Vegas general manager, George McPhee says he has been getting trade calls lately so it will be very interesting to see who he deals if any players at all. Finally, the Montreal Canadiens seem to be having some issues with the idea of keeping Alex Glanchenyuk or not. Reportedly the Canadiens are still entertaining calls about him since he is eligible to become a restricted free agent on July 1st.
The Canadiens also seem to have an issue with Alexander Radulov as the word is, he is seeking a six-year deal with an average annual price of $7 million dollars. The Canadiens feel this is too long and a little pricey for him. Plus with Carey Price only having a year left on his contract the Canadiens are going to want to save some salary cap space for him. With all this, it will be very interesting to see what happens with some of these players in the coming days or weeks.