Red Wings Sign Defenseman Hamonic

The Detroit Red Wings announced the signing of veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic on Friday.

UPDATE: The #RedWings have signed defenseman Travis Hamonic to a one-year contract with an AAV of $1,000,000. pic.twitter.com/fw1qWJwEM2

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 15, 2025

George Malik notes that this looks a lot like bringing in a veteran captain for the Grand Rapids Griffins and I hope he’s right. I’d slot him in about eighth on the Wings’ depth chart, behind Jacob Bernard-Docker and even Justin Holl, but ahead of Ian Mitchell and William Lagesson. So whether he’s bound for GR would depend on if the Wings want to carry seven or eight blueliners.

It’s not an exciting signing by any means but, if we assume that Detroit’s defense is set with some combination of Mortiz Seider, Ben Chiarot, Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, Erik Gustafsson, JBD, and Justin Holl, then we can see a Grand Rapids blueline of Hamonic, Mitchell, Lagesson, William Wallinder, Axel Sandin Pellikka, Shai Buium, and Antti Tuomisto, which looks pretty complete.

I mentioned on social media a little bit ago that I expect the Red Wings to announce new jersey numbers soon. Obviously Hamonic’s signing impacts that a bit. With him included, here’s a recap of what I’m expecting to see:

• Austin Watson switches from #24 to #51
• Jacob Bernard-Docker takes #24
• Shai Buium changes from #22 to #2
• Mason Appleton takes #22
• James van Riemsdyk takes #21
• Ian Mitchell gets #14
• Travis Hamonic takes #25
• John Leonard gets #44 or #90