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The Edmonton Oilers Could Acquire Travis Hamonic

By Kris Hansen |

Earlier today, Darren Dreger of TSN and Elliot Friedman dropped this interesting nugget of a trade rumour: Travis Harmonic wants to move out due to Personal reasons- and it all comes back to the Edmonton Oilers.

 Hamonic and the Fit

Travis Hamonic is a legitimate top pairing option in my eyes. He’s just about 6’2 and 205 pounds. Known as a solid hitter where he finished third in hits with the Islanders last year. He’s not known for his offence, as he has three points in 19 games so far this year, but did have an impressive 33 points in 71 games the season before.

However he fits in really nicely: He’s a right handed shot that Edmonton Oilers fans have been dying to have since well, they let Petry away for peanuts. He plays with that mean nasty physical edge that the team can use. His production does not inspire much but boy, that’d be quite the asset to have on the back end. Plus his contract is just a treat.

Hamonic is not a horrible person demanding out because he’s a diva. Far from it. I remember Hamonic having a special about losing his father at a young age and setting up a program with young fans who also lost a father at a young age. It’s definitely worth a watch.

In my opinion, of the teams listed, the Edmonton Oilers make the best fit.

Calgary Flames: They do not need another defence man. They already acquired Dougie Hamilton during the off season. Where would Hamonic play in that top four? There just is not much room for him, if any at all.

Winnipeg Jets: Like the Flames, except the Jets are loaded on the right side. They have Byfuglien, Myers and Trouba (although Trouba has been a let down from his rookie season.) Last year, they acquired Myers in the Evander Kane trade, with blue liner Zach Bogosian going to Buffalo.

Vancouver: Out of the teams mentioned, besides Edmonton, I feel like this one could be a good fit as well. The back end is not spectacular and that could be a valuable asset to get on there.

It’ll be interesting, but I think Edmonton is the best fit. A desire of need in that position, assets available (which will follow shortly) and one of the favored locations, it makes sense. It depends on the price though.

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Who to Give Up?

Jordan Eberle: Look. I’m awful at these hypothetical trade proposals but Eberle does makes some sense. I find him, of the forwards at least, to be one of the most movable assets. However, it might not always be the case: high cost in the contract and sub par play this season, although to be fair he has been injured. It would be a tough pill to swallow, but I’d be okay with trading an area of strength (right wing) for an area of need (right handed defence man)

Nail Yakupov: Like Eberle, he comes from an position that is an area of strength. I think he’s more movable than Eberle, due to contract reasons, but the lack of production without McDavid is stinging a bit. He would probably have to be packaged with someone else. It would be bitter to trade a young man who works his butt off like Yakupov.

Anton Lander: Just kidding, he has no trade value right now.

Justin Schultz: Matt Henderson of Oilers Nation writes that Schutlz would be the most likely blue liner to be moved for Hamonic. I agree with Henderson to an extent: I do not think him alone would get the trade done and his reputation probably hurts his value a bit. Also considering that he’s an RFA at the end of the year and his debatable impact, it’s not a stretch to say that Hamonic is superior to Schultz. That said, Henderson does bring up some valid points, especially concerning the ice time.

Darnell Nurse or Oscar Klefbom: I saw this on twitter that the Islanders would want a defensemen of equal value, one that could play right away and I saw these names as potential asking prices (I think it was Ryan Rishaug, who also revealed that the Islanders and Oilers were talking a Hamonic swap since the beginning of training camp). I’d be very wary of trading either of them. I think Klefbom has great upside and he’s outproducing Hamonic right now by 7 points. Nurse is a non starter. No way we trade him.

Conclusion

I’d hope Chiarelli is running the phones right now to try to acquire Travis Hamonic for whatever (reasonable) price. Considering the Oilers are a team Hamonic would like to go to, they have an advantage that puts the Islanders in a tight spot. It’s tough for the Islanders to trade a guy like Hamonic, but Chiarelli has to work his hardest to get a deal done in this case. Hamonic would improve the defense in great fashion.

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