As Daemon Hunt was lacing his skates to play in his 126th game for the Iowa Wild, he was sat down by the head coach and general manager of Minnesota’s AHL affiliate to tell him he had been traded.
It’s news that would have anyone feeling nervous and confused for the future.
However, for Hunt, there are plenty of familiar faces around the Blue Jackets organization that have helped him fit right into the Monsters’ winning culture.
“It's been a lot more smooth than I thought it would be,” said Hunt, who was acquired from the Wild along with draft picks in a Nov. 30 deal that sent David Jiricek to Minnesota. “It is my first time ever being traded. There’s a lot going on. I have only been here for a week and a half, but I already feel like I am family with a lot of these guys.”
The left-shot defenseman has played in five games thus far for the Monsters, with the team having a 2-1-2 record. Individually, Hunt has recorded four assists in those games, including an assist on the game-tying goal in the final two minutes against the Syracuse Crunch on Dec. 6 to helped the team force overtime.
Cleveland has been a great destination for Hunt as the third-round pick in the 2020 draft has enjoyed playing with the talent up and down the lineup for the first-place club.
“This group is really skilled, and I'm learning every day how each player individually is, and the speed and skill of Cleveland right now,” Hunt said. “We're one of the best teams in the league and you can see it every time we play. It's just like, wow, like we are fast and skilled and we compete.”
Hunt is in his third season as a pro, spending all of the 2022-23 season with Iowa and then making his NHL debut with 12 games with Minnesota a season ago. He skated in one more NHL contest with Minnesota this year before the trade, giving him 13 career games at the highest level with one assist to his credit.
The immediate reaction from his teammates has been about how skilled Hunt is and how well he has fit in with the culture in Cleveland. Jet Greaves, who played in three games with Hunt in Cleveland, said he is a great fit for the Monsters.
“Very good player,” Greaves said. “He's kind of stepped in right away. He's helped us as a good-skating defenseman, handles the puck really well, and he has a lot of really good poise. There’s a lot of really good assets of his game. He's a great guy. It has been fun getting to know him early.”
There is one player in particular Hunt is excited to be playing with. He and fellow defenseman Denton Mateychuk played alongside one another for three years for the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Western Hockey League, with Mateychuk following Hunt as the team captain.
“It brings back a bit of memories,” Hunt said of playing with the CBJ first-round draft pick. “He's so dynamic, so it makes the game easier on me with his ability to skate and like spin off checks, his deception and the way he walks the blue line. I think we had some good chemistry last night. He's fun to play with. And I think just having that past, it definitely helped a lot. It's like the good old days back in Moose Jaw, and we're reunited again.”
Hunt said that Mateychuk is the person he has shared the blue line with most in his career, so he is excited to have his longtime defensive mate back next to him, and the two of them would talk about playing in the NHL together when they were playing in juniors.
Another mutual connection between Hunt and the Blue Jackets organization is former CBJ forward Matt Calvert, who played 416 games wearing the union blue and recorded 149 points during his time in Columbus.
He just happens to also be Hunt’s cousin and agent.
“(Calvert) was really excited when he first heard the news,” Hunt said. “I think his initial thoughts to me were just how well the city supports the Blue Jackets, how good of a city it is. I mean, he knows everybody in the organization, so that definitely helps me out.”
Although he has not seen the support Columbus has for the Blue Jackets firsthand just yet, he has experienced the Monsters’ home-ice advantage. Cleveland has the highest average attendance in the AHL and plays its home games in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I was in Des Moines, Iowa, no complaints there, but like coming to this building, it's just like a whole other animal,” Hunt said. “The way our dressing room is set up, the way we're treated here and then, last Saturday, we had 14,000 in the building, which is really impressive for an AHL game.”
“It just gives so much more energy to the game, and it's so fun to play and be a part of,” he said.
Hunt gets fueled by the crowd and said it helps him in his game, another reason that this organization was a good fit for the 22-year-old.
“I think fans don't get enough credit for that. When they bring energy, especially on home ice, it brings so much energy to myself,” Hunt said. “They've been so good and so supportive of me too. It's been amazing.”
