Today it was announced by Arthur Staple of Newsday that Travis Hamonic now wishes to stay with the New York Islanders. Hamonic, who is from Manitoba originally, had expressed interest in moving closer to home.
Hamonic has gone through a fair amount of tragedy in his young life. His father passed away at 44 after having a heart attack in his sleep. This tragedy was featured on an E:60, a show on the ESPN family of networks. It was often remarked in that segment how important family was for Hamonic. It doesn’t take a lot to connect the dots that Hamonic wanted to be closer to family and the trade demand illustrated that.
It became increasingly obvious as the Islanders went through their stretch run that they didn’t have any desire to trade him in season. While time didn’t look to be on their side at first, it now seems to be the prevailing reason why he is staying. A strong season for the Islanders can do wonders.
Hamonic has four years remaining on his contract with a team friendly cap number. Finding the proper value for a player like that is much tougher than anyone realizes, especially when the trade partners were limited to western Canada.
As the offseason progresses for the Islanders and a series of tough decisions need to be made, this is some good news for Garth Snow. Next up on his offseason list? Finding a replacement for Kyle Okposo.
