Flames bolster blue line with Travis Hamonic acquisition

Sean Leahy
·Contributing writer
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 04: Travis Hamonic #3 of the New York Islanders skates against the St. Louis Blues at the Barclays Center on December 4, 2015 in Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 04: Travis Hamonic #3 of the New York Islanders skates against the St. Louis Blues at the Barclays Center on December 4, 2015 in Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

If the New York Islanders are going to make a move for someone like Matt Duchene or Alex Galchenyuk, they have plenty of cap space now to make a splash.

After acquiring Jordan Eberle for Ryan Strome earlier this week, general manager Garth Snow has dealt defenseman Travis Hamonic to the Calgary Flames for first- and second-round picks in 2018 and a second rounder in either 2019 or 2020.

The move leaves New York with a little over $9 million in cap space, per Cap Friendly. It also comes a year after Hamonic rescinded a trade request to be closer to his family in Manitoba. At locker clean out day last season, the defenseman said the health issues with a family member had “stabilized” and he would be remaining with the Islanders.

Limited to only 49 games in 2016-17 due to injury, Hamonic didn’t have his best year with the Islanders, but when healthy he’s a dependable blue liner that was trusted with shutting down the star forwards of opponents. He’ll look good on Glen Gulutzan’s second pairing to fill out a nice top four in Calgary with Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie and Dougie Hamilton. He also comes with a very team-friendly contract that pays him for three more seasons at a $3.857 million cap hit.

There’s no doubt that this deal improves Calgary’s blue line, but if you’re GM Brad Treliving, you’re hoping that a strong blue line will really help Mike Smith bounce back.

– – – – – – –

Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!