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Friday we found out the Calgary Flames’ play-in series against Winnipeg would begin on August 1st. We also found out Travis Hamonic would not play a part in it.
The veteran defender has decided to opt out of the return to play plan and sit for the remainder of the season.
Hamonic released a statement via his agency group detailing what went into the decision, not that it was necessary to do so.
Stepping away due to personal risk of getting the virus would be understandable. When you consider Hamonic has two young kids, one of which has already dealt with serious respiratory issues, I don’t think anybody can question his decision.
I firmly believe family was the biggest factor in stepping away. With that said, Hamonic has dealt with a lot of nagging injuries over the last couple of years and he’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent in just a few months. Stepping away, giving his body extra time to heal, and better protecting himself from COVID-19 – who knows if he’d deal with after-effects if he contracted the virus – makes sense as well.
It doesn’t make sense to potentially put his family at risk, and it doesn’t make sense to put himself at risk prior to getting a healthy contract in free agency.
From a hockey perspective, I don’t think this is as big of a loss for Calgary as it appears on the surface. His perceived value has far outweighed his on-ice value this season.
At 5v5 Hamonic owns a minus-12 goal differential, a 49.19 Corsi For%, and a 48.55 Expected Goals For% (all worst among Calgary’s big-5 on defense).
The Flames also give up shots, chances, and goals at a higher rate with Hamonic than any other defender on the roster to play at least 500 minutes.
Hamonic’s defensive game is supposed to be his bread and butter – we all know he doesn’t exactly stuff the scoresheet – so he really wasn’t bringing much to the table.
It would have been nice to have the extra depth. You always need extra bodies in the playoffs. Especially so this year with such a long layoff (injury risk is higher) and all the games being played on a condensed schedule. I think they’ll be fine without him, though.
A top-6 of Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin, Erik Gustafsson and Derek Forbort – with Juuso Valimaki as a wild card if absolutely needed – should allow the Flames to be competitive.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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