PHOTO CREDIT: © BOB FRID-USA TODAY SPORTS
The Vancouver Canucks were struggling to find a solid defence partner for Quinn Hughes after the departure of Chris Tanev in the 2020 offseason. Throughout the next three seasons, they juggled through bottom-pairing defence first players like Luke Schenn and Ethan Bear before deciding it was time to make the change and acquire a top-pairing running mate for Hughes.
During the 2022-2023 season, the Canucks decided to move on from their captain, Bo Horvat. And although they were in sell mode at that trade deadline, they made a big splash by acquiring that right-shot defenceman they oh so coveted, Filip Hronek. After playing just four games after the trade, he wouldn’t show off his true talent and potential until the 2023-2024 season.
This is what Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin had to say regarding his newly acquired defenceman.
“We are excited to add a 25-year-old right-shot defenceman who handles the puck well and possesses a strong two-way game,” said Allvin. “He has steadily progressed throughout his time in Detroit to show that he is a top pairing defenceman in this league. We are happy to continue to add younger pieces to build out the core of this team.”
It was a successful first full season in a Canuck jersey for Hronek, especially right off the bat. Hronek found his first assist of the season on opening night as he showed off his wicked shot, leaving a juicy rebound for Brock Boeser’s second goal of the game. Hronek would later assist on the Canucks sixth and Boeser’s fourth goal of the game while finishing with a plus-four rating.
Hronek ended the first month of the season with eight points in nine games and a plus-eight rating. He would carry over that success as he continued on with a 10-game point streak with 13 assists — including this no-look, tape-to-tape feed to Elias Pettersson for a backdoor tap-in.
It wasn’t until game 16 that Hronek would score his first goal as a Vancouver Canuck, showing the blistering shot he possesses. This goal not only extended his point streak to 11 games but also tied the game at three, clocked in at 100 MPH.
However, the 2023-2024 season was a tale of two seasons for the Czech defenceman. Through the first 42 games of the season, Hronek scored three goals and 36 points, finishing with a plus-34 rating. In the final 39 games of the season, he only scored two goals and 10 points.
After game 42, he was held off the scoresheet for nine straight games. However, he finally broke through in a revenge game against the team that traded him, the Detroit Red Wings. He scored this breakaway goal out of the penalty box, adding two helpers on top to exit the game with three points.
While this breakaway was a success, he was given another opportunity in Vancouver’s final meeting against the Arizona Coyotes franchise. Hronek was awarded a penalty shot in overtime, but this attempt wasn’t as fluid as the previous one.
But who could forget maybe Hroneks’s most memorable highlight of the summer? During a TV time-out, Hronek was caught on the broadcast chirping the entire Calgary Flames bench during his final game of the season, saying, “You have holidays in two days.”
Hronek finished the regular season with five goals and 48 points in 81 games, a plus-33 rating. Among all NHL defencemen, Hronek had the 21st most points but the 12th most at 5-on-5. Hughes and Hronek, as a pairing, would finish among the league’s best duos analytically. They ranked fifth in expected goals for percentage (53.90%), third in scoring chances for percentage (56.53%) and blank in high-danger scoring chance percentage (51.19%) of all defensive pairings to play 1000 minutes together.
The former second-round pick would make his playoff debut, but he got off to a slow start. Hronek failed to register a point in the opening series against the Nashville Predators and wouldn’t find the scoresheet until Game 6 and 7 of the second round against the Edmonton Oilers. But other than that, it was regarded as a disappointing playoff run by the defenceman, with just two points in 13 points and a minus-three rating.
One thing we can all remember from Hronek’s season was his blistering shot from the blue line. He seemed to enjoy bringing that added element to his game, as he finished with a career-high 148 shots in a single season. Not only was his volume higher, but Hronek ranked in the 93rd percentile across the entire NHL in top speed and 95th in average shot speed. He scored some timely goals, whether in the dying minutes against the Boston Bruins to send the game to overtime or to breathe some life into the remaining five minutes of Game 7 of Round 2 by cutting the edge to one goal.
He was an integral part of the season, and that was evident once the Canucks were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs and entered offseason mode. The club made it apparent that he was their number one to re-sign, and they did that days before the NHL draft – the “internal deadline” to get a deal done before considering trading the player. The Canucks signed Hronek to an eight-year, $58 million contract, paying him $7.25 million annually.
Looking at some of the deals signed on July 1st, this projects to be more advantageous than those deals.
Hronek is a 26-year-old, right-shot defenceman who nearly produced 50 points with an impressive plus-33 rating. This contract will take him until he’s 34 years old. The Seattle Kraken gave 30-year-old Brandon Montour a seven-year deal that pays him $7,142,857 million annually ($107,143 less than Hronek). Montour scored eight goals and 33 points with a plus-one rating in 66 games. Another 30-year-old who signed his big ticket was Brady Skjei. The Nashville Predators gave Skjei a seven-year deal that pays him $7 million annually ($250,000 less than Hronek). Skjei scored 13 goals and 47 points with a plus-15 rating in 80 games. These contracts will take both Montour and Skjei until they’re 37 years old.
Had Hronek not drastically fallen off the cliff offensively, he likely would have flirted with the 60-point mark. And while you can say a lot of his success could have come from his defensive partner, Hronek was the perfect partner to help elevate Hughes’ game to the Norris-winning calibre Canucks fans saw this year. It’s not just the play on the ice that makes their play work so well; they also have a great friendship off the ice.
“It’s pretty easy to play with him,” Hronek said when asked about Hughes. “I would say we have good chemistry on and off the ice, which helps, too. “Everything was natural. We see a lot of things the same way, and we are able to talk about a lot of stuff off the ice and on the ice as well. It’s pretty easy, actually, and [have] a great relationship.”
“I really enjoyed the whole season. It was an easy decision to make and I’m really happy we got a deal done,” Hronek said after signing his extension. When it’s all said and done, Hronek helped the Canucks in ways they haven’t had in a long time, all while having a career year of his own. And now, Canucks fans will be able to watch Hronek chase further career totals for eight more years in Vancouver.
