She Said: To Trade or Not To Trade Roman Hamrlik

By Tyg

1. Money

Roman Hamrlik is currently earning 5.5 mil on the last year of his contract. That represents a lot of potential space under the cap to sign or trade for a big scoring winger, something the Habs desperately need.

As it stands, once PG signs goalie Carey Price, there will be precious little money left if Benoit Pouliot or Andrei Kostitsyn fail to live up to expectations and their potential this year. Trading Hamrlik—assuming it’s even possible—would give the team some wiggle room money-wise to strengthen the top two lines.


2. Depth

Now that the Habs have signed Alexandre Picard, they have enough depth on the blueline to allow Hamrlik to be moved despite Markov’s expected delayed return from injury.

Right now, the team has Hal Gill, Josh Gorges, P.K. Subban, Jaroslav Spacek, Roman Hamrlik, Andrei Markov, Ryan O’Byrne, and Picard signed, and that’s not taking into account any of the other youngsters hoping to make the roster.

Even with Markov gone, there’s still room to trade Hamrlik and keep a solid D-corp.


3. Age

Yes, it’s true that Hamrlik was the go-to guy early last season when Markov went down due to injury, but as the season wore on, it became apparent that the veteran D-man was wearing down himself. There were also times during the playoff run that he looked absolutely gassed heading back to the bench.

If Coach Martin were content to use him sparingly—instead of having Hamrlik chew up Markov’s 20-plus minutes of icetime—he’d be more of an asset.

With Markov out again for the start of next season and Subban showing that he can handle a lot of Markov’s minutes, it’s not necessary to keep Hamrlik just to cover for the lost icetime.

Right now, it seems pretty obvious that Hamrlik is past his prime and won't be able to easily anchor the blueline for the Habs in Markov’s absence.


4. Hamrlik Is a Lefty

So are Markov, Gill, and Spacek—who is nowhere near as effective when he’s playing on the right side. Gorges is also a lefty, but seemed to adjust pretty well to playing on the right side.

Subban, thankfully, plays on the right, but the truth is the Habs are awash with left handed veteran D-men, and when players are playing out of their natural position, it makes the blueline a little less effective.


5. Leadership

I’ve heard a lot of commentary regarding Hamrlik’s mentoring of up-and-coming young defensemen, and while that’s no doubt a valuable skill, I don’t think the Habs need to keep him for that reason.

The Habs have leaders like Gill, Markov, and Gorges on the squad, and Subban himself made mention of Spacek helping him out during the playoffs. So I think the youth on the team will still have plenty of veterans to look to for guidance, even without Hamrlik.

Despite my reasons for wanting to trade him, I doubt very much that Roman will actually be moved. He has a limited no-trade clause, and his $5.5 million cap-hit is not an easy sell unless there’s a team looking to reach the cap floor. The potential trade partner also has to be able to use a veteran blueliner who needs to be used only sparingly.

Still, if Pierre Gauthier finds a way to trade him, I think it’s definitely worth pursuing for the extra cap space, if nothing else. I doubt it will seriously hurt the Habs blueline next season to lose Hamrlik.

Read the He Said counter-point.

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Tyg used to frequent the old Forum during her early childhood when her father was a corporate season ticket holder, where she fell in love with Larry Robinson, so her lifelong obsession with the Habs is entirely his fault.

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