TAMPA, Fla. — Maybe Jack Capuano knows something no one else does. Or maybe the Islanders coach was just being naively optimistic, just like most of the fans of his team.
Because after what was almost assuredly Travis Hamonic’s final game as an Islander, Capuano was somehow not planning on the departure of the stout defenseman.
“I don’t necessarily think that right now we’re thinking Travis is not going to be with us next year,” Capuano said after his team’s season ended with a 4-0 loss to the Lightning in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series on Sunday afternoon at Amalie Arena. “I don’t know that, so I really can’t comment on that.”
Hamonic made a trade request before this season started for an undisclosed personal reason so that he can be closer to his family at its home outside of Winnipeg. The way he played this postseason surely raised his value, showing himself as a player who gets better as the games mean more.
Set to turn 26 this August, the 6-foot-2, 217-pounder carries a relatively modest $3.857 million salary-cap hit for the next four seasons, making him an even more attractive piece for those teams who would meet his request. General manager Garth Snow was unable to find a suitable return during this season, but in the lead-up to the June 24 draft, the market will likely rise to meet what Snow is asking for.
And all of it was hard for an emotional Hamonic to fathom.
“I love being an Islander, more than anything,” he said, having been drafted by the team in the second round of the 2008 draft. “It’s one of the best things I do in my life.”
Yet when asked about the uncertainty of next season, Hamonic respectfully didn’t want to answer.
“Not right now,” he said. “I know you have to [ask], but not right now, please.”
So this is likely the way Hamonic’s tenure as an Islander is ending. He did lead the franchise to its first postseason series victory since 1993 when the Isles beat the Panthers in the first round, and that’s something he was proud to be a part of as they sealed it with a Game 6 victory in double overtime at Barclays Center.
“That was a pretty cool feeling in Game 6 when we won that,” Hamonic said. “I’m glad we had a chance to do that in front of our fans, they’ve supported us throughout the whole season.
“It just sucks. I didn’t think — I was really confident in our group. So this is pretty frustrating right now.”
Hamonic has always been an emotional leader, and it boiled over a bit when he took a roughing penalty in the second period, leading to a Victor Hedman power-play goal. It was a call that more often than not doesn’t get made at this time of year.
Yet this was still the end of the road for the Islanders season, and likely the end of the road for Hamonic and the only NHL team he has ever known.
“You spend your whole life dreaming for a chance to win the Cup,” Hamonic said. “You don’t know how often you’re going to make the playoffs, get in the second round and make a run. So it’s a tough thing to do. As a group, we just have to learn from this experience. But right now, at the moment, it sucks.”