Canucks: Is Travis Hamonic an upgrade over Chris Tanev?

The Vancouver Canucks recently invited Travis Hamonic to the team on a PTO, but will he be an upgrade over Chris Tanev this season?

Travis Hamonic, the newest addition of the Vancouver Canucks, has already drawn many comparisons to Chris Tanev.

On paper, this shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone; they’re both defensive-minded blueliners who provide limited offence and constantly face questions regarding their health and declining play.

The intrigue is heightened even further given that Hamonic and Tanev swapped teams as unrestricted free agents during the offseason.

In my previous article, I talked about why Hamonic should play beside Quinn Hughes, as he could essentially replace much of what Tanev brought to that pairing. The more interesting question to consider, however, is whether or not he will be an upgrade over the former Canuck, which is what we’ll be tackling today.

For starters, it’s important to note that Hamonic had arguably his worst season to date in 2019-20, as we can see from graphs courtesy of HockeyViz.

On the other hand, Tanev wasn’t exactly a defensive stalwart either.

It’s worth pointing out that both defenders played tough minutes last season according to PuckIQ, as Tanev spent 36.2% of his ice time against elite competition, which is higher than Hamonic at 30.8%.

On the surface, these stats indicate that Tanev is the better player, but the gap isn’t as wide as it might seem.

As we all know, hockey is a team sport and other skaters can heavily skew a certain player’s numbers. While Tanev was enjoying playing shotgun to Hughes, Hamonic was paired mainly alongside Noah Hanifin.

Now, Hanifin is a good player, but he’s no Hughes. If we assume that Hamonic and Tanev’s roles will be reversed this season, then it’s safe to say that their respective stats would also spike in opposite directions.

Using A3Z Performance Tool data, we can see the discrepancy between the puck-moving abilities of Hughes and Hanifin.

Again, Hanifin is a decent play driver himself, but it isn’t an exaggeration to say that Hughes might be the best defender in the league at transitioning the puck up ice and being a one-man breakout machine.

Since Hanifin isn’t able to make zone entries/exits on an elite level, some of that burden was placed on Hamonic. We can see the difference between Tanev and Hamonic’s roles by using A3Z again.

Keep in mind that A3Z’s stats only measure the quality and not the quantity of a player’s particular skill. However, it’s fair to assume that Hamonic was tasked with more breakouts than Tanev due to the abilities of their defensive partners.

By playing alongside Hughes, Hamonic will be able to stay back in his own zone and focus more on shutting down opposing players, which is what he’s more comfortable doing. This will naturally improve his entry defence since Hughes will drastically lighten his puck-moving responsibilities.

Moreover, Hughes is only entering his second season and will only get better, which is a scary thought considering the historic rookie year he just had. The young phenom will improve in every aspect of his game, which will make Hamonic’s life even easier.

Putting all this together, I believe that Hamonic is a downgrade over Tanev, but the difference is marginal given the defensive partners they had last year. Improvements from Hughes and a lighter workload for Hamonic likely means that they will form a pair on par with the Hughes-Tanev partnership, which is a win for the Canucks considering the success they enjoyed together. Let me know if you agree in the comments below!