Flames trade for Travis Hamonic

After adding a defender for the future last night at the draft, the Calgary Flames added a defender for the now right now by adding Travis Hamonic from the New York Islanders.

The cost is draft picks only. The Flames are giving up their 2018 first, their 2018 second, and their 2019 or 2020 second. In return, the Islanders will send over a 2019 or 2020 fourth round pick, again unknown who was the choice. This is similar to the package put together for Dougie Hamilton, although all of those picks were in the same draft and are likely going to be higher picks than the ones sent for Hamonic.

There is some minor conflict here, as if the Flames make the playoffs in 2017-18, the pick traded for Mike Smith becomes a second rounder. With the Flames giving up their 2018 second round pick for Hamonic, presumably their 2019 second round pick will go to Arizona if they make the playoffs, and their 2020 second will go to the Islanders.

Hamonic has been a highly regarded rearguard for a while now, albeit he has seen some sliding in the past year. Allegedly playing with a broken hand, he saw a drop in results this year, putting up his lowest points total in a full season. His underlying production has also fallen off a bit.

The hope behind Hamonic is that he rebounds and becomes the defenceman he was two or three seasons ago. With a defensive core that already includes Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton, and T.J. Brodie, Hamonic in his prime could become a deadly weapon for the team. At only $3.857M AAV until 2020, he comes on good value, too.

Trading for Hamonic probably rules out a return for current (for about three more days) Flame Michael Stone, who was probably going to make the same money as he is. Definitely an upgrade on the #4 defensive spot.