[SuperMatt18]

I don't think Ricardodw necessarily framed the argument the best way, but I do think there is a valid argument to needing at least one physical, big d-man come playoff time. And ideally he doesn't hurt you from a possession perspective.

And I'm not sure if Hamonic really would have helped that. He had the fewest hits of all Flames d-man in the playoffs against Colorado. (2 hits at 5v5 in 5 games).

Really he's not that physical in the regular season either. Here are 5v5 hits per 60 for the Flames d-men for the time Hamonic played here (minimum 1200 minutes TOI).

1) Stone: 5.9
2) Hanifin: 3.5
3) Hamilton: 3.3
4) Hamonic: 2.8
5) Giordano: 2.6
6) Andersson: 2.4
7) Brodie: 0.8

Honestly Hamonic was supposed to bring that physical, shutdown role to the Flames d-men and IMO he failed to deliever that. He averaged more than double the hits/60 in his time with NYI (6.2/60). Just a poor return on that trade.

It's why I'd be okay with them looking at a guy like Radko Gudas in free agency at the right cost. RH D, isn't a black hole from a possession perspective, and plays a physical & mean game. Dylan Demelo too plays quite physical and is RH d-man. Both guys I hope we look at to help shore up our defense in free agency.