The Detroit Red Wings should be offering more clarity on the status of injured defenseman Simon Edvinsson at some point today. He’s missed the past two games with a lower-body injury. Edvinsson was to undergo further testing once the Red Wings returned home Sunday from their three-game road trip.

Edvinsson’s availability is vital to the Red Wings as they challenge for the top spot in the NHL’s Atlantic Division. He plays in the first defensive pairing alongside Moritz Seider. They munch minutes while opposing the other team’s top units.

Equally important in the Edvinsson equation is another factor. The longer Edvinsson is out of action, the more that Travis Hamonic will be in the lineup for the Red Wings. And that’s been nothing but bad news this season.

Signed to a one-year, $1 million contract late last summer as an unrestricted free agent, there’s no sugar-coating what Hamonic, 36, has provided to the Red Wings.

For the most part, he’s been a liability.

When Hamonic isn’t in the lineup this season, Detroit is 22-7-3. That’s a .734 points percentage. When Hamonic does suit up for games, the Red Wings are 10-9-2. That’s a .524 points percentage.

That’s mediocrity. There’s no other way to describe it.

Hamonic is a minus-10 on the season. That’s second-worst on the team, even though he’s only played 21 games. He’s been a minus in nine of his past 14 games. Hamonic was minus-three on opening night against Montreal. He was also minus-three in a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on November 24.

Among the 90 NHL players with a rating of minus-10 or worse this season, only Vancouver defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph has reached minus-10 in fewer games than Hamonic. Joseph is minus-10 and has played only 17 games.

He’s a career minus-37, which is something, considering that Hamonic is minus-36 since the start of the 2023-24 season. That would suggest there’s been a significant downturn in his outcomes over this span of time.

When Hamonic is on the ice, Detroit has scored six five-on-five goals. The Red Wings have allowed 17 five-on-five goals. He commits 3.5 giveaways per 60 minutes. That’s the most by any Detroit defenseman.

Analytics Don’t Bode Well For Red Wings Defenseman

If you prefer fancy stats to the eye test, well, that data also isn’t doing Hamonic any favors.

The NHL has Hamonic with an SAT% of 46.1. That’s third-worst on the team.

Doing a deep dive into Hamonic’s analytics through the website naturalstattrick.com, his Corsi For percentage is 45.41%. That’s 668th in the NHL. Hamonic has been on the ice for 47 high-danger scoring chances against (HDCA). That works out to 2.24 HDCA per game.

Hamonic is known in the Detroit room as Doc, due to his resemblance to the Old West icon Doc Holliday. However, there’s nothing OK about the numbers that Hamonic has managed to corral this season.

Naturally, the Wings aren’t about to throw one of their own under the bus. They offer up excuses for Hamonic’s rough ride and intangibles as a reason for his value to the team.

“You know, for Doc to come in, it’s been a bit of a ping pong match with his insertion into the lineup,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “He’s in, and then he’s out, and he’s in, and he’s out.

“I talked to him in practice the other day about, when you go back in, here’s the things we need you to do. And he did them. He did them well.

“I think Travis, since Game 1, has become a really important part of our team. He just quietly goes about his business. But what you don’t see or hear or maybe even recognize is all the little stuff he does on the bench and in the locker room and with some of the younger defensemen.

“Very valuable and noticed by the staff.”