The Vancouver Canucks, not content with building through the draft, have already traded the conditional first-round pick they received from the New York Islanders in exchange for captain Bo Horvat. The Canucks have sent it, along with a 2023 second-round pick, to the Detroit Red Wings for defenseman Filip Hronek and a 2023 fourth-round selection.
Hronek, 25, has developed into quite a strong all-around defenseman for the Red Wings and will set a career-high in scoring whenever he records his next point this season. That may have to wait a little while, as he left last night’s game after just eight minutes of action and is dealing with an upper-body injury.
The Canucks aren’t getting him for right now, though, as their season is already over. Instead, the focus of a pickup like this will be on next year when the Vancouver management believes the team can be competitive. Hronek is signed through next season on his current three-year, $13.2MM contract, and will be a restricted free agent at its expiry next summer.
It’s that contract price tag that makes this trade a little bit confusing from the Canucks perspective. Hronek is probably still providing some surplus value on his $4.4MM cap hit, but Vancouver will probably only get one year of that before another raise (he is owed a $5.28MM qualifying offer) is due. With the way the team’s cap situation looks at the moment, it’s hard to see how that will fit in, given the big sums already owed to Quinn Hughes and Oliver Ekman-Larsson through 2026-27.
Make no mistake, Hronek’s arrival in Vancouver will make them a better team. He instantly becomes their second-best defenseman, and could form a legitimate top pair with Hughes for the next several years. But Canucks fans are going to be screaming from the rooftops, at a management group that refuses to pull the plug and rebuild.
For Detroit, dealing Hronek brings up more questions than answers, as general manager Steve Yzerman tries to get the club to the playoffs as soon as possible. Are the Red Wings now looking at acquiring someone like Jakob Chychrun? Will they use their stash of draft picks on an even bigger name?
After signing Dylan Larkin to a massive extension today, the team signaled to fans that the rebuild is over. With five picks in the first two rounds of this year’s draft, and plenty of cap space, they could be preparing to make a big splash in the next few days, or this summer.
Good return for a second pairing defenseman.
I think Vancouver did this because they got scared that the 1st wouldn’t convey this year.
If the Islanders # 1 lands in the top 12 and doesn’t convey here in 2023, who’s unprotected # 1 do the Wings get in 2024? The Islanders or Vancouvers? I cant seem to find this answer anywhere, so thanks to whoever can help me out
It’s which ever Islander pick Vancouver originally acquired … Allvin can still foolishly trade his own picks.
I can’t think of a team in sports that doesn’t know what they are more than the Canucks
Colorado Rockies
Good comparison. They are the exact same teams across separate sports.
I’m not sure how else a top 4 RH D-man, 25years old, who is on club control for a little while still (RFA after next year) is acquired?
Still need time to process this trade, but people are so quick to say “don’t trade picks!”
Even if you drafted a RH Defenseman with this Islanders pick, he would be 18/19 and need 3-4 years before making an impact (this draft is good, but not D-good)
Arizona Diamonbacks fit this category but they’re getting lucky with some young guys outperforming their stock. Never know what the Knicks are doing either
I don’t have an issue value wise with the deal. They want to win but it’s abundantly clear they don’t have the roster to do so. Buying and selling at the same deadline is the epitome of stuck in the middle.
Horrible deal by Vancouver for a variety of reasons.
Yeah..they are hard to follow..ever since they lost in the cup final they have made a series of doubtful decisions. They never seamed to be on a clear path
This is a puzzler from both sides… really weird. Vancouver is rebuilding but they’re trading first round picks for established players. Detroit is getting to the end of their rebuilding and starting to see some of their young talent develop in NHLers but they’re trading their young controllable assets for first round picks again?
Could this be Stevie Y getting a 1st round pick to get someone else he really wants?
Don’t know who – but it’s not out of the question.
The other question then becomes…who is he targeting? Chychrun????
Chychrun, Provorov, God help us if it’s ……..NO it can’t be Karlsson!!!!!!!! (NHL Network were discussing that last night)
It would be ironic if they acquired Chychrun seeing Kenny Holland traded Pavel Datsyuk’s contract along with the first round pick that Arizona selected Chychrun with. It’s pretty rare a player drafted in the middle of the first round to immediately start his career in the NHL and have success. Usually it’s top 3 tops. Many teams overlooked him.
After the last 2 games being manhandled by Ottawa, Stevie wants to get tougher?
Detroit received picks 20 and 53 in that trade. 20th pick Cholowski is no longer on the roster. With 53, they selected Hronek. Too bad they didn’t get Chychrun.
Wondering if SY is trying to stockpile more 1st rounders so that he might be able to draft Fantilli. Will Edvinsson be called up? And where will Bert land ????
I think it’s likely he’s going after someone else….
Wings have young defensemen ready to step in next year. Hronek was expendable and got almost the same return as Chychrun
Canucks chasing their White Whale, which is a playoff berth, while skipping a number of steps. Past GM left a cap mess, the new GM has talked about clearing cap space & bolstering pathetic (for a team with 1 playoff run in 8 years) prospect system. A Raty & Bloom is far short, and the cap situation is unbelievably worse now. It’s beginning to look like he didn’t get the GM job on merit…