Canucks: Should the team re-sign Travis Hamonic?

The Vancouver Canucks signed Travis Hamonic to a one-year deal worth $1.25 million shortly before the season began to help stabilize their defence.

The move made sense for both sides. The Canucks needed help on the right side of their defence, and Hamonic wanted to stay in Western Canada for family reasons.

At the time of this article, Hamonic has one goal and six points in 33 games this season. He has spent a large chunk of the season as Quinn Hughes’ partner.

It has been an up and down season for Hamonic. At times, he has been good defensively. Other times, not so much. And there have even been a few instances where he has been just unlucky.

Let’s take a deeper look:

The good and the bad of Hamonic’s season

There have been some poor moments from Hamonic this season.

In this clip below, instead of clearing the puck out or passing it up the ice, he decides to pass it to Tyler Myers, who was clearly out of gas. The Jets would score shortly after.

Here, Hamonic tries to pass it through his own legs to forward Jay Beagle, but the puck ends up right on the stick of Calgary Flames’ defenceman Mark Giordano, who scores.

Hamonic has also had some better defensive plays.

In a contest against the Montreal Canadiens, he manages to block Philip Danault’s shot, but the puck makes its way to Brendan Gallagher. Fortunately, Hamonic was there to stop Gallagher from taking a shot.

Next, Hamonic also made a nice defensive play to stop Kyle Connor on a two-on-none. He raced back and got his stick in the way just in time.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Hamonic has a 45.2 Corsi For percentage this season. He is also fifth on the Canucks with 303 scoring chances against, fifth with 22.27 expected goals against, and fifth on the team with 110 high danger chances against.

More from The Canuck Way

• Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
• What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
• Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
• Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

Should Hamonic come back?

Hamonic has enjoyed his time in Vancouver, and even spoke to the media about it after Thursday’s win over the Edmonton Oilers, per Daniel Wagner of Vancouver is Awesome.

"“On a personal level, my wife and our two kids have really enjoyed Vancouver. Everybody has been extremely welcoming and we have nothing but amazing things, so we’ll let things kind of play out as they do, but it’s been a really good year for me and my family in this city, in Vancouver and wearing that jersey.”"

He also spoke about playing with Hughes, as well as being coached by Travis Green, during the post-game press conference.

"“Playing with Huggy…It’s made my job certainly a lot easier to kind of find your voice, find your role and enjoy playing. Have I enjoyed myself? Yeah, as a team, we’ve probably obviously haven’t had the success that we’ve wanted this season. When I take a look at myself personally and how much I’ve enjoyed playing the game this year surrounded by this group of guys and especially under Greener he’s a really good coach, in my opinion, and he’s let me have a role and I’ve been able to run with it.”"

It has been an up-and-down season for Hamonic both on and off the ice, as he was also one of the many players who dealt with COVID-19. He hasn’t been that consistent in his own end, but has also proved to be a reliable partner for Hughes when playing well.

Since Hamonic has expressed the desire to stay in Western Canada, he might not be asking for much in his next contract. Ideally, the Canucks could bring him back on a similar short-term, team-friendly deal, much like his current one this season. An educated guess would likely be a one, possibly two-year deal worth around $2 million per year.

If that’s the case, most fans wouldn’t mind Hamonic coming back next year.

What do you think, Canucks fans? Should Hamonic stay or not? Let us know in the comments below!