The Canucks should target Travis Hamonic in free agency

The Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning knows he has to make some changes to the team’s blueline. Travis Hamonic could be a good target.

There is a big chance that the Vancouver Canucks‘ blueline looks a whole lot different next season.

Both longtime veteran Chris Tanev and local favourite Troy Stecher from Richmond are without contracts for next year. With the way Vancouver’s backend performed in the 2020 playoffs, it’s highly likely that Jim Benning decides to shake things up in an attempt to get better results.

He did a good job tweaking the roster ahead of last season but in the end, it wasn’t good enough. Sure, Tyler Myers passed the eye-test and local brute Jordie Benn was a solid sixth or seventh man when they needed him to be. But when it was all put together with the rest of Vancouver’s defenders, the Canucks failed to get the results to swing in their favour.

That became clearly evident against both the St. Louis Blues and the Vegas Golden Knights. The transition game was a failure, the ability to get the puck out of the zone was sometimes laughable, and Vancouver spent way too much time hemmed deep in their own zone. At times, it could have passed as men versus boys. With the core of this team ready to contend, that has to change. And it has to change now.

Enter Travis Hamonic. He may not be the flashiest of defenders and the nightly commentating doesn’t often do him any favours, but he’s an underrated defensive defenseman who is very rarely caught out of position and his mistakes are few and far between. The newly turned 30-year-old was making a shade over $3.85 million annually for the last seven seasons and could possibly be swayed to sign cheap for an opportunity to play next to Calder finalist (and potential winner), Quinn Hughes.

Hamonic is reliable in his own end and he doesn’t shy away from laying the body on his opponent. He likes to get physical, he isn’t afraid to block shots, and in comparison to Tanev, he does a much better job of staying healthy. It’s not perfect, but over the course of his 10-year career, he’s played 643 of a possibly 773 regular-season games. For a guy who blocks a lot of shots for the betterment of his team, that’s acceptable.

Vancouver needs to weigh their options carefully this offseason. With the cap so tight this year the Canucks may prefer to acquire a defender via trade, but if Benning decides to go the route of bringing in a UFA blueliner, he should take a run at Hamonic if the dollar figure makes sense.