The Vancouver Canucks were able to clear up cap space and get younger in one swoop through the trade market on Sunday afternoon.
It began with the Canucks moving Travis Hamonic to the Ottawa Senators for their own third-round pick that the Sens’ possessed. The Canucks were able to score an excellent return in sending Hamonic to Ottawa.
We say excellent because it was just earlier this season when Hamonic could have been picked up for free on waivers. Dropping his $3 million cap hit off the books opens up a variety of doors for the Canucks, who can now pursue extensions for their big-name players with added confidence and cap space.
Hamonic found himself in a log-jam on the Canucks right defence.
Luke Schenn has played well enough with Quinn Hughes to earn that spot.
Tyler Myers has had his ups and downs but for the most part, he’s been steady.
Tucker Poolman is nearing a return from injury and will be able to slot into the Canucks’ third pairing with ease.
When a third-round pick was found to be the return for Hamonic, the fan base showed their excitement on social media.
This was an excellent deal for the Canucks. The ability to return a third-round pick in a trade for a player of Travis Hamonic’s skill, contract status, and age is tremendous.
Hamonic was unable to play with Hughes and simply found himself as a depth defenceman with the Canucks. The Canucks’ new management showed extremely well with their first trade.
Simply put, this is a deal that you make every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
From there, the Canucks weren’t done addressing the defence. They had the extra third-round pick to play with and didn’t waste much time moving the Winnipeg Jets’ pick that they acquired in the summer from the Nate Schmidt deal.
Early Sunday, the Canucks were rumoured to be in on Leafs’ defenceman Travis Dermott. After the Hamonic deal came down, the Canucks struck while the iron was hot and brought back the versatile defenceman.
“We talked about getting a little bit younger, Travis can play both the left and right side, and our pro scout and analytics department were excited about him,” said Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin. “I’ve had the opportunity to follow him for a couple of years here. I don’t make emotional decisions after wins and losses. This is part of the process of getting younger and also creating some cap space.”
The feel right now is that the Canucks were able to get a younger, better defenceman while shedding cap space. It felt like a great day of trades for the Canucks and left fans wanting more from the new management group.
Dermott shows well in a 5/6 role but hasn’t quite reached the potential that he showed in his rookie NHL season. From checking around the Leafs’ fanbase, Dermott seemed like a player who was very liked by Leafs’ fans. The fans mostly wanted to wish the best for Dermott, who shared that he was a closet Canucks fan as a kid.
Dermott looks like he skates well and moves the puck with confidence. He could see time with either Brad Hunt or Tucker Poolman in the future depending on which side he ends up playing.
The feeling around the Canucks at the deadline is that they are not done.
A big name may be in play as well as Tyler Motte’s name being on the block with the organization and his camp struggling to find a contract extension that makes sense for both sides.
We will continue to keep you up to date on all things Canucks with some fireworks being possible on this deadline Monday.
