Are the Flames looking at bringing back Travis Hamonic?

The NHL and NHLPA are hammering away on the details of the Return to Play for the 2020-21 NHL regular season. But as those bodies tinker with the rules, regulations and structures, the NHL’s member clubs are preparing to hit the ice – and that includes potentially making roster additions.

A rumour has popped up on Vancouver radio, with TSN1040’s Bob ‘The Moj’ Marjanovich (of “Donnie and the Moj”) noting some potential Calgary Flames interest in Travis Hamonic.

Hamonic, 30, became an unrestricted free agent in October when his contract with the Flames expired. The right shot defender spent three seasons with the Flames.

The first thought regarding his return is: “With what cap space?” Per PuckPedia, the Flames have about $1.01 million in cap space right now, and that’s with them (a) still needing to re-sign Oliver Kylington and (b) only carrying 22 players due to their lack of cap space.

Second, where would Hamonic fit in within their new-look blueline group? Even on a mega-cheap “show me” contract, the Flames’ top four looks to be pretty much set with Mark Giordano, Chris Tanev, Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin. The third pairing looks to be some combination of Nikita Nesterov, Juuso Valimaki and Kylington, likely with both Nesterov and Kylington on inexpensive “show me” contracts of their own. When you factor in that the Flames have Connor Mackey and Alexander Yelesin waiting in the rights, Hamonic’s slotting on the depth chart would potentially disrupt the development of one (or more) of Andersson, Valimaki, Kylington, Mackey and Yelesin by taking away NHL ice time from them.

Finally, while Hamonic was generally a rock-solid defensive player for the Flames, statistically he was an average offensive player for them – based on relative Corsi For – and a slightly below average defensive player – based on relative Corsi Against – during the past three seasons. If he had a single big quality that the team absolutely didn’t have otherwise, it might make sense to free up cap space to snatch it up. But Hamonic’s underlyings say that he’s a solid, if unspectacular, two-way defender with defensive metrics that may actually be trending in the wrong direction.

Over the course of a compacted 56-game season, the Flames will need defensive depth. But they’ve already cobbled together some inexpensive depth this off-season, and the fit just doesn’t seem to be there right now for Hamonic to return – even on an inexpensive deal.