It doesn’t appear that it will be easy for the New York Islanders to pull off a trade involving defenceman Travis Hamonic.
Hamonic admitted this week that he requested a trade prior to the 2015-16 season due to a personal family issue, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Islanders were trying to accomodate him.
“The root of all this is a personal family matter of mine that I hold dear to my heart,” Hamonic told reporters Thursday. “It has nothing to do with the organization or how I’ve been treated here for six years of playing and another two or three since I was drafted. I’ve honestly been treated like gold from the start.”
Hamonic’s preference is to play for one of the teams in Western Canada, so the Islanders have a limited market to work with. According to Friedman, teams such as the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks contacted the Islanders but were told they were not a “fit.”
“A lot of people would not be surprised if this turned into a three-way trade,” Friedman said Saturday.
The Calgary Flames showed interest in Hamonic as well, Sportsnet’s Damien Cox said Saturday during the Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, but the Islanders asked for defenceman T.J. Brodie in exchange for Hamonic, which was a “non-starter” from Calgary’s perspective.
The Edmonton Oilers could also be a logical fit to acquire Hamonic. Ideally, the Islanders would love to acquire ascending young defenceman Darnell Nurse in a trade but a more realistic scenario could involve a package including forward Jordan Eberle and defenceman Justin Schultz.
The Winnipeg Jets were mentioned as a possibility as well and defenceman Jacob Trouba is a young player that would certainly appeal to the New York front office.
Hamonic, 25, is under contract until the end of the 2019-20 season at an annual salary cap hit of $3.86 million.
The Islanders defenceman has one goal and three assists while averaging over 23 minutes per game in 20 games with the Islanders this season.
