Canucks demote Hamonic, still refuse to acknowledge his vaccination status

Last month veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic re-joined the Vancouver Canucks after an extended leave of absence and weeks and weeks of cryptic messaging from the team.

Hamonic missed the entirety of the Canucks' training camp and pre-season schedule, as well as their first nine regular season games to start the 2021-22 campaign. And while there was speculation that Hamonic's leave of absence was due to his reluctance to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, neither the team nor the player would confirm that while he was away.

So when Hamonic returned and announced that he had been vaccinated, the ongoing story seemed to come to an end. Until today when the Canucks demoted Hamonic to the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks before embarking on a three game, cross-border road trip.

There's speculation amongst the fanbase that Hamonic may indeed not be vaccinated or, at least not fully vaccinated just yet. This would explain Hamonic's reluctance to say that he was full vaccinated and would only say that he was following the league's COVID-19 protocol.

More from Canucks insider Thomas Drance of The Athletic:

"Travis Hamonic declines to clarify whether has the status of a vaccinated individual or unvaccinated individual under the the NHL’s COVID protocol. In his original statement he said he is vaccinated, but also noted that he’s following guidelines until the process is complete."

Thomas Drance

Reading between the lines a bit here it sounds like Hamonic, for whatever reason, was hesitant to receive the vaccine but has now chosen to go through the process. He likely has received his first dose, but Public Health policy in British Columbia requires that individuals wait four weeks between doses. It seems likely to me that Hamonic is stuck in this four week purgatory right now. In the meantime, he has cleared waivers once before and can report to AHL Abbotsford for the team's two home games this week. For those who don't know, Abbotsford is a suburb of Vancouver, about 1-2 hours east in the Fraser Valley.

It's also worth noting that Hamonic opted out of the NHL's return in 2020 due to concerns over his daughter who has respiratory issues. Again, we can only speculate as to what this means but I'm certain that his family's health was at the forefront of his decision making.