Calgary Flames: Travis Hamonic out, Rasmus Andersson in?

Earlier today, Travis Hamonic left the ice and seemed to be in pain during practice. We don’t know if he’s out in the Calgary Flames lineup tomorrow and who will be in yet. More on that here.

This morning during a Calgary Flames practice, Postmedia reporter Kristen Odland was one of the only people who noticed that defenceman Travis Hamonic left the ice.

However, following practice, head coach Glen Gulutzan mentioned how we won’t know more until tomorrow morning.

But we’ve got some contradicting statements.

Something worth noting is that D Rasmus Andersson was a healthy scratch in tonight’s Stockton Heat game. Of course being one of their best defencemen, this could only mean one thing. He’s on his way to YYC.

This is most likely a precautionary take. However, we could also see Freddie Hamilton be sent down if Andersson draws into the lineup. Meaning that Freddie and little brother Dougie may be separated.

In ten games with the Heat, Andersson has one goal and seven assists which leads all defensemen on the team. He’s also tied for fourth in points among all defensemen in the AHL.

Hamonic, who plays alongside T.J. Brodie, shoots right. So the person replacing him will most likely have a right shot as well. We know that Michael Stone has played with Brodie before and that will most likely be the pairing if Hamonic is out. Those two had decent chemistry last season when Stone was first acquired, but at that point, basically, anything was better than Dennis Wideman.

That was another reason that Stone was re-signed, it was in case of injury to a player in the top-four defence crew. However, if Matt Bartkowski doesn’t draw in and Andersson does instead, we’re not sure if the Calgary Flames coaching staff will want two rookie defencemen as the third pairing with Andersson and Brett Kulak.

And this is all only if Hamonic is injured. He may be playing tomorrow and all this speculation is for nothing. But one could only hope that Andersson and Kulak both draw into a game while Bartkowski sits.

Bartkowski right now has zero points in eight games and a -2 rating. He also has the second worst CF% at 5on5 on the team (min. 50 minutes) at 42.86%. He also has the worst CF% Rel. (min. 50 minutes) on the team at -8.31. Basically, with the worst CF% Rel. on the team, that means the team is at it’s worst when Bartkowski is on the ice. All stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.

Among all defensemen in the league, Bart has the 11th worst CF% Rel. (min. 50 minutes).

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This sounds harsh, but if Hamonic were to sit out, having Kulak and Andersson in over Bartkowski would definitely be better.