Alex Rickman
March 1st, 2023
Adding to an already busy week for Vancouver on the trade market, the Canucks have gone out and acquired defenceman Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings alongside a 2023 4th-round pick in exchange for a conditional 2023 1st-round pick, initially acquired from the Islanders in the Bo Horvat trade, along with a 2023 2nd-round pick.
For those unfamiliar with the player, Hronek is a 6’0 187lb right-shot defender. The 25-year-old Czech blueliner has enjoyed something of a breakout season this year, having already put up a career-best 9 goals and 38 points, along with some impressive advanced stats showing a capable player on both sides of the puck. Hronek is currently in his 5th season in the NHL and is signed until the end of the 2023-24 season at a cap hit of $4.4 million.
Despite the Canucks desperate need for help on defence, particularly the right side, this trade has not been met with a positive reaction from the Canucks fan base. While Hronek is without a doubt an excellent player and will immediately be Vancouver’s most competent right-shot defender, a team in the position the Canucks are in in the standings giving up what will likely be 2 top 40 picks in the best draft class we’ve seen in years is a head-scratching decision. It has raised some valid concerns over the direction the front office wishes to take the team in, as moving out high draft picks for a 25-year-old is the kind of move we expect to see from contenders rather than a team currently sitting near the bottom of the league.
While management clearly believes that Hronek can be an effective piece in Vancouver for a while, and seem to believe that they can have this team turned around and competing in the near future, I can’t say I share this optimism. While Hronek is no doubt a talented player and immediately improves our defence, for a team with a prospect pool as weak as ours and currently fighting for a top 5 draft pick, adding a player like Hronek at the expense of draft picks simply doesn’t make sense. Picks like the ones we gave up could’ve seen young defencemen like David Reinbacher, Lukas Dragicevic, or Maxim Strbak, among others, who would’ve immediately become top defensive prospects for us added to our barren cupboards, but building a better future for this team becomes a bigger challenge following this move.
The loss of draft capital is what stings the most about this move, but the other major concern I have with this deal is what it may tell us about other moves this front office intends to make. While it did seem for a while like the Canucks had finally committed themselves to a proper rebuild, which has clearly been needed for quite some time now, this move indicates the front office prefers a retool, which can only be harmful for the organization long term. The current roster clearly isn’t good enough to contend, and with many important players on the team not likely to develop their game any further, a rebuild is the only solution to save the franchise from eternal mediocrity. However, time and time again this franchise chooses to delay the inevitable and try to become a contender without doing any of the dirty work necessary to become a team that can fight for cups.
The Canucks almost certainly aren’t done making moves yet, with players like Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, and JT Miller having been in the rumour mill over the last few days, and could potentially recoup some of the draft capital lost in this deal. However, I can’t say that even if they do recover the lost picks I’d be happy with this move, as I’d have rather had the picks lost in the Hronek deal in addition to the return on other trades as opposed to Hronek and other potential assets. If Hronek performs well and the Canucks can successfully turn their play around in the near future I’d be more than happy to eat my words here, but unfortunately, it’s hard to see a world in which we look back on this trade and see it in a positive light. For now, this trade should simply serve as a reminder to GMs across the league to hang up the phone if Steve Yzerman calls.