Islanders Sign Travis Hamonic: Let the projections continue
by Dominik on May 27, 2010 1:41 PM EDT
in Roster Manoeuvres in the Dark
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The New York Islanders announced the signing of Travis Hamonic to a three-year entry-level contract. Hamonic completed his four-year junior hockey league career with the Brandon Wheat Kings on Sunday as they were defeated by the Windsor Spitfires in the Memorial Cup Championship. The 6'2", 215 pound defenseman was named a 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup All-Star, totaling 11 points (four goals and seven assists) in 15 games.Hamonic is a slayer of men, a crusher of dangling forward dreams, possessing a physical chip on his shoulder the size of Rhode Island and a general hockey mystique that makes women swoon from Brandon, Manitoba, to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
>>team release, slightly altered w/ my own hyperbole
This was long expected and thankfully negotiations with the 53rd-overall pick -- the Isles' fourth in the 2008 draft -- appeared to go quite smoothly. But it's nice to have a signing announcement that fans can feel tangibly excited about, no? While prudence dictates we not see him in an Islanders uniform next season except for training camp and emergency purposes, it's nice to get a guy in the fold who: 1) we got to see excel in the WJC and the Memorial Cup, and 2) we can be confident will be a legit NHL defenseman.
If you weren't around here then, the Lighthouse Hockey interview with Hamonic this past winter after his trade to Brandon gives you a taste of the kid's approach. At the time, his goal for this season was to "round out my play and prove I could be a complete player. Prove I could put the puck in the net, complete a hit, fight, be a shutdown guy, do it all..." Of those, he said he enjoyed shutting opposing forwards down the most.
In today's game, the "top pair"/"second pair" labels with defenseman can be a little misleading, I think. When you have a true #1 defenseman as your anchor -- a Streit or better -- you can spread your resources in different ways, where your second-best D-man is not on your first pair but actually anchoring your second pair. In other words, defense-focused Andrew MacDonald looked just fine next to Streit in the second half of 2009-10, though you'd never call MacDonald a "#2."
So: Could Hamonic be a top-pair defenseman? Well, next to a guy like Streit, he'd possibly be fantastic. Peanut butter and jelly. So the question for us might be: Could Hamonic one day be the anchor -- rather than the complement -- on a second pairing? What are your realistic hopes and expectations? When do you figure he'll be a full-time Islander?
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relieved
about time! he sounds like Volchenkov,potentially
by Lakewood Islander on May 27, 2010 1:52 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
If it was April...
you’d have thought that Sidd Finch took up hockey and was making an athletic comeback.
Travis still looks pretty raw. I hope they don’t force him into a spot that should be taken by a more expensive experienced defenseman. But… like everybody else, I’d like to see how he does against MEN. If they get a UFA to take the weight off of Streit, then I’d like to see Travis land with Hillen or [eventually] deHaan.
Either way… good luck young Mr. Hamonic. Enjoy your professional rewards, and know that there are tens of thousands of people who will be rooting for your every stride.
Oh yeah… rememeber this logo
There were men who attacked your grandmother as a small child… scarred her for life… they wore this emblem… they need to pay for their transgressions!
The men cockroaches that wear this symbol today carry on a long tradition of hatred and terrorism. They’re venemous deeds are prefaced by a series of whistles… and when you hear those whistles one of those men must BLEED… then sir, and only then will you one day be graced by the chants of… “HAMONIC SUCKS” when you enter their (or any other) building.
THEN, and only then, will you be SOMEBODY!
NHL 500... Let the Less Filling vs Tastes Great debate begin!
Sidd Hamonic
I should have asked him about his yoga skills.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
hmmm
In deciding who he needs to pick this year and next, Garth needs to look forward to when Mark’s career is over. How will Hamonic—DeHaan work as a top pairing?
My first thought would be to certainly not count on that. But beyond that, I have a different philosophy on the draft. I say simply pick the guy with the best chance of achieving the highest level, and don’t worry about what prospects you already have because there’s no telling which ones will become what you hope they will.
Unless you’re talking about D vs. forward with this specific #5 pick, but even in that case they’re going to need more than their first round picks to fill out the top six and top four.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
I'm saying as a factor
if they don’t see a lot of light between whichever of the defensive trinity fall to #5 and Nino or possibly Connolly and Tarasenko if they are so inclined. Presumably Fowler, Gudbranson, and Gormley (as well as possibly Forbort and Merrill) are looked at as top pairing prospects. Just saying that Hamonic and Petrov will be looming in their minds when they decide on who to pick.
I hear that; that makes sense. You know me, I get nervous counting on the sun to rise tomorrow.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
well from what I know of global warming....
but polls show fewer and fewer people believe in it so it must not be a thing.
I agree. Unless you are looking at Tavares or Hedman I wouldn’t draft by “need.” Just get the best players you can and if you end up with a surplus of one position you should be able to trade guys to address other needs; and trade for more established and reliable players. Saying “we need a guy to plug in X two years from now” doesn’t make a ton of sense to me.
I waited all year for this?
it isn't always that easy to trade for the players you need
and my point is that there are at least 4-5 guys of comparable talent and we will have a choice between three of them. I think you have to consider need as part of the equation here. If the choice is between Gudbranson and Nino, I see them as comparable talents and we have a need for a scoring winger and a physical top two. How does Ryan J compare them and how does he prioritize the team’s need are the relevant questions.
Well even if you question his health...
you have to throw Connolly in there too. I happen to think we have more of a need at forward, but I still say we take Gudbranson there if available, just because I think he’s a rarer talent, and too good to pass up.
my take
is that Connolly, Fowler, Gudbranson, Gormley. Nino, and probably Tarasenko are all comparable talents. If you look at the intangibles that often make the difference between very good and great players, I see Nino and Gudbranson as having them over the others.
Agree/Disagree
you’d never call MacDonald a “#2.”
I agree with your larger point about labels but I don’t think I’ve seen enough to put this ceiling on MacDonald yet. I’m not saying I expect him to get there but I haven’t seen definitive evidence yet that he can’t get there.
I guess I’m going on his pedigree and late-bloomerness to put a ceiling on him. That’s not to say I couldn’t see him getting 22 minutes and doing just dandy.
But essentially: Would MacDonald ever combine both his defensive acumen from last season plus offensive numbers that would lead you to call him the second-best defenseman on a good team? That was the criteria I’m meaning, anyway (which, heh, steers us back to the complication of these labels).
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
You know more about him than I do, but judging from what I saw last year I wouldn’t say he couldn’t grow into that role. Again, I’m not necessarily expecting it but I wouldn’t use the word “never.”
Not meant as a bash, only for contrast:
I would use that word about Bruno Gervais.
You know more about him than I do
Oh I wouldn’t assume that!
And I do appreciate any contrasting opinion, so thanks for that. One of the things I struggle with is floating theories people can easily debate with without resorting to typical columnist-instigator schtick.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
I see Hamonic as a pretty solid 3-4 guy
I don’t think a lot of his offense is going to translate to the NHL game. You just don’t get the space and time you get in Juniors at the NHL level.
I do think he will be one of the unsung heros of this team. He’s not really weak in any areas but doesn’t really excel in any spare hitting.
He’ll easily be one of those guys you have to watch a lot to really appreciate. One of those guys the experts claim every team should have.
Disagree, I think that would have been a good observation last year...
he took a real step offensively this year, he’s not going to be Mike Green, or Paul Coffey, but the points will come and I think he will surprise a lot of people.
not sure what Hamonic's ceiling is
but my guess is that it will be lower than Gudbranson’s. Will he be good enough to be at least a decent top pairing guy? We may just find out if Garth doesn’t draft another likely top pairing prospect.
He took a step forward offensivly last year as well
But he was given the green light to do more offenivly by his coach who felt his “stay at home game” had progressed as far as it was going to go.
I really don’t know how much of his offense, if any, will translate to the NHL. He has a decent shot but it’s not a great shot from the point.
My biggest problem with Juniors is that guys often get stuck their for a year or two playing above their level of development when they should be in the AHL for more seasoning. Guys like Hamonic, Martin and Dibenetto get to play against a lot of less seasoned players.
That’s why right now I really think we are lookin at a three or four Defensmen. That’s not a bad thing overall.
The offense wild card
That one should be fun to watch. I don’t see him being a big points guy myself, but it’s hard to read that side from his junior experience — especially since he switched teams this year and since he was in a defense-first role on Team Canada.
Will his roaming translate? Will Operation Gordon open up a new dimension? You never know, I guess.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
him and Martin are alike in one way
we know they are good and that they are part of the future…we just don’t know how good or what part they will play in that future.
I think theres a good chance he makes it out of camp, barring the addition of at least 2-3 major free agents, he’s just a better player than most of the D we had up this year (ie. Kohn, Reese, Meyers, Gervais). Seasoning is overrated, I always think it often does more harm than good, the future is now, and he had the extra season in juniors already.
Seasoning
I like seasoning for a defenseman in his shoes, to:
1) Get used to bigger bodies, esp. since he’s a physical guy
2) Get used to pro conditions and decision-making
3) Pay a little dues with old-fashioned elbow grease and AHL bus rides, which I imagine is still a lot better than WHL travel.
Though I agree, he might actually be an instant upgrade on last year’s blueline, but I’d rather not stunt his growth by rushing him.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
To the Bridge!!
I hope young Travis has a great breakout season – - in Bridgeport. He’s 19, and although he may be a great prospect, I think he belongs in the AHL. It has been said before, in several places, that rushing young prospects only hurts them in the long run. It has already been said about a young Islander (KO, please stand up), and I hope we don’t need to have the same discussion about young T-Ham. Let him get used to the pro game, and I think we’re looking at a top pair guy. An anchor, if you will.
Let the projections continue
Put me in the Hamonic to Bridgeport camp.I am not gonna name names but I believe the Isles stunted the growth of another top prospect a couple of seasons ago(hint,his name rhymes with wash daily).Iam not saying it will have any long term effects i’m just saying don’t let these kids get a swelled head,it will come soon enough.Like Dominik said let them pay some dues with some old- fashioned bus rides in the AHL.Yeah I know the elbow grease is old-fashioned but so are the bus rides.You get the point I am trying to make.Anyway it’s fun to project and have our own opinions about who the Isles will draft or who we would like them to draft but(SPOILER ALERT!!!)this is how the first 5 spots in the draft will go.#1 to Edmonton:Taylor Hall,#2 to Boston:Tyler Seguin,#3 to Florida:Cam Fowler,#4 to Columbus:Brett Connolly,and at #5 to the Islanders,drum roll please:Erik Gudbranson.Just remember you heard it here first folks.
defense-focused Andrew MacDonald looked just fine next to Streit in the second half of 2009-10, though you’d never call MacDonald a “#2.”
I’m a Fan of Andy Mac, but has anyone looked bad while playing next to Streit?
In a funny point to that, not sure if you’ve heard of Eastside Hockey Manager, but I finally got to my 2nd season of it and got hired as the GM for the ECHL Trenton Titans. The game starts in the 2006 season. I saw Reese was a UFA so I signed him for training camp, and then signed him just to keep him around. The coach constantly complains that he’s out of his talent range playing on the ECHL level and he’ll never make it as a pro hockey player.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
has anyone looked bad while playing next to Streit?
Ha, that’s a mighty fine point that’s always worth remembering. That should be an ABC reality show: Skate with a star, where they see how bad a partner needs to be to make Streit look bad.
I had no idea Eastside got that in depth; that’s hilarious.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
It’s the later commercial release, not the free release. It’s taking me forever because I have almost every league turned on for high detail. Milbury got hired as GM of the Wilkes-Barre AHL team, Tavares is still in juniors, Snow just cut AMac, but I can’t afford to sign him, and Moulson is playing in Russia and his team refuses to sell him to me.
The Islanders went from Marty McInnis and a 2nd Overall pick to Jesse Joensuu.
you could certainly make an argument for young Travis learning his trade
at the feet of the Swiss master craftsman.
Michael Fornabaio
Had this in his Sound Tigers blog:
There is crazy buzz, both from sources we’ve chatted with and media we all probably read, about Hamonic’s starting his career in the Show. So we’ll worry about him if we see him.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
Hamonic is a beast. I voted “anchor on the second pair” though I agree that labeling D like that isn’t very helpful. The reason I didn’t vote him higher was the lack of offense. He may develop it, but it’s unlikely. Normally when you are better and more physically mature than everyone else you’ll produce your most offense, but even surrounded by the skill he had around him his numbers weren’t off the charts. (But then again, Mike Green never scored as much in the WHL as he has in the NHL.) It would definitely be a big jump for him to start in the NHL next season, but depending on how the front office approaches the season I wouldn’t be shocked.
I waited all year for this?
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