One of the more heavily-discussed names from the NHL trade rumour mill had been New York Islanders defenceman Travis Hamonic. They started over a year ago when he had asked the team to trade him to a team in Western Canada for family reasons. Though he had rescinded that request in the 2016 offseason, it was still likely he was eventually moved. On Saturday morning, he finally was, in a trade with the Calgary Flames.

These are the details:

Full trade: Hamonic and a 4th in either 19 or 20 to CGY for a 2018 1st, 2018 2nd and either a 2019 or 202 2nd. #Isles

— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) June 24, 2017

Conditions get a little complicated. If CGY misses playoffs in 2019, NYI gets the 2nd round pick that year.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 24, 2017

Fantasy Impact

A lingering issue with Hamonic’s fantasy value is his inability to stay healthy. Having played six 82-game seasons, he has failed to reach 75 games in any of them. The new Calgary blue liner has also missed at least 10 games in four straight seasons. Lacking reliability in games played is one way to temper fantasy expectations.

He is also not a point-producing defenceman, though it’s not entirely his fault. Over the last three seasons, he has a higher points per 60 minute rate than names like Justin Faulk, Shea Weber, Keith Yandle, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He has lacked consistent games played, which is one issue. The other issue is a lack of power-play minutes. Over those seasons, particularly the most recent two years, guys like Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy had been typically used on the top power-play unit. That is why Hamonic has one power-play point in since the start of the 2015 campaign. It’s no wonder his career-high total of 33 points came in the same season (2014-15) he recorded a career-high 11 power-play points.  

In leagues that count hits and blocked shots, Hamonic will still be a go-to player. Even in a second-pair role, the 26-year-old rearguard can still post over two blocked shots and about 1.5 hits per game. Add in a healthy amount of penalty minutes and about two shots per game, and there’s enough here for a depth role in fantasy leagues with real-time stats.

Leagues that don’t count those stats, however, will find Hamonic struggling for fantasy relevance outside of deeper formats. Going to Calgary means he’ll still be pushed down the depth chart offensively among the defencemen, particularly Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton. There is reason to think he can put up his usual 20-25 points, but without the prime power-play minutes, we’ve seen how this caps his fantasy upside. In points-only leagues, he’s just another guy.

This shouldn’t have too much impact on the Flames other than finally rounding out their top-four defencemen. As mentioned, both Hamilton and Giordano remain ahead of him on the depth chart for power-play minutes so, barring injury, it should be status quo. Calgary was already one of the top teams in limiting shots and scoring chances against, so it probably doesn’t change much for the goaltending situation, either.

All told, this doesn’t seem to change much for Hamonic. He remains a second-pair option at five-on-five, and a tertiary option with the man advantage. For dynasty owners, his value should remain fairly consistent.