Travis Hamonic to miss rest of regular season after awkward hit

The New York Islanders will have to navigate the rest of the regular season without one of their top defensemen. 

On Friday, coach Jake Capuano said blueliner Travis Hamonic would miss the remainder of the NHL’s regular slate with a lower body injury. He will then be reevaluated. Hamonic was injured off a hit by Columbus Blue Jackets forward Scott Hartnell with just 5:12 into the first period of their Thursday game. It appeared Hamonic's knee collided with Hartnell's. 

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He leads the Islanders in average ice-time per-game at 23:49 and has 21 points in 72 games played. According to War on Ice, Hamonic has a plus-1.72 CF% Rel, which ranks fourth on the team amongst players who with 72-or-more games played. This means the Islanders hold onto the puck more when Hamonic is on the ice than when he’s off the ice. 

After the game, Islanders captain John Tavares voiced his displeasure with the hit. The quotes are from the New York Post.

“I thought it was a pretty questionable play,” said captain John Tavares, who settled down after some middling recent performances and led the whole way, scoring twice to take his season total to 29 while playing smart, high-percentage hockey with a one-goal lead late in the third.

“I don’t know if [Hartnell] stuck his knee out, but it sure looked like he did for me,” Tavares continued. “Certainly that kind of play is pretty dirty. So I think, first and foremost, we think about [Hamonic] and what he means to the team and what happened this time of year last year. So I just hope it’s not serious.”

Last year, Hamonic missed the playoffs with a torn MCL that he suffered just before the end of the regular season. 

According to Newsday’s Laura Albanese, Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk was optimistic Hamonic would return for the playoffs.

Earlier in the year, Hamonic, who is one of New York’s more important players off the ice, requested a trade to be closer to home over family concerns. The Islanders couldn’t work out a deal because of injuries to their blueline. 

After going through a stretch where they had lost seven of nine games, the Islanders have won three in a row to vault themselves comfortably into a playoff position in the Eastern Conference with 93 points – six clear of the Detroit Red Wings as the last team outside the playoffs. 

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper