Filip Hronek Debuts in the Canucks' 7-2 Beatdown of the Sharks

Defenseman Filip Hronek made his Vancouver Canucks debut after returning from injury. Any thought of him easing back into action was quashed early in the night.

In his first game with the Vancouver Canucks, Filip Hronek practically did the work of two men.

After fellow defenseman Christian Wolanin left Thursday's contest after just three shifts early in the first period, the Canucks' other five blueliners were left to pick up the slack.

And while Quinn Hughes sits sixth in the NHL with an average of 25:25 of ice time per game this season, he checked in at 23:39 on Thursday while picking up one assist in Vancouver's 7-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Hronek had him beat, with a team-high 24:25. An auspicious debut, especially for a player who had been sidelined with a shoulder injury since Feb. 28, the day before the Detroit Red Wings traded him to Vancouver.

"I felt good," Hronek said after the game, looking like he had barely broken a sweat. "Good team win, so obviously happy about that."

Hronek is known for his offensive touch. In his first 60 games this season, he led all Detroit defensemen in goals (nine) and points (38). But while the Canucks spread out their scoring on Thursday, with goals from seven different players and no one with more than two points, the 25-year-old Czech was held off the scoresheet in his debut with his new team.

Instead, he made his mark with his sharp defense and his physical game, which included three hits and standing up for his new teammate Elias Pettersson following a nasty cross-check from Kevin Labanc in the second period.

"Always thought he was a good player – he's always hard to play against," said J.T. Miller after the game. "I think maybe he doesn't get enough credit for being a gritty player — he's more physical than people think. 

"He's a little cheap. He's got a little old-school to him, which is nice. 

"Obviously, what he does with the puck, you guys will notice. It's one game, but he looked great today. We're excited to have him for sure."

Hronek arrives as another righty, Noah Juulsen, heads to the injured list and is likely lost for the season. Called up from AHL Abbotsford in late February as Luke Schenn was sitting out ahead of his eventual trade to Toronto, Juulsen logged 10 solid games before suffering a lower-body injury during warmup activations ahead of Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. 

Lefty Guillaume Brisebois was scratched for the second time in three games on Thursday. Coach Rick Tocchet said after the game that Brisebois is "dealing with a couple things."

Tocchet didn't have a postgame update on Wolanin, who signed a new two-year contract extension with the Canucks earlier on Thursday. 

If either player needs to miss time, more call-ups from Abbotsford could be needed. 

Three other Canucks blueliners are also on the injured list. Oliver Ekman-Larsson suffered a sprained ankle in mid-February, while Travis Dermott (11 games) and Tucker Poolman (three games) have been sidelined for most of the season.

Before Wolanin's injury, Hronek was set to play on the right side of Vancouver's second pair alongside Ethan Bear — who also usually plays on the right. 

Here's how his first night actually stacked up, according to naturalstattrick.com:

"I thought he did really well," said Tocchet. "For him to come back after three weeks, playing five D is not the greatest situation."

With a power play that came into Thursday's game ranked in the NHL's top 10, the Canucks went 0-for-5 against the Sharks' surprisingly strong penalty-killing unit, which ranks sixth-best in the league. 

Hronek was on for 3:45 with the man advantage. Early in the game, he was the lone defenseman in the power-play setup. Midway through the third, he lined up with Hughes for a different look.

"I wanted to see him out with the first unit," Tocchet said. "And with Hughesy, let's see how that works, the righty-lefty with those guys up top. We're going to probably use that a little bit more."

On a brand-new team, thrust into multiple different roles, Hronek shrugged off the challenges.

"Keep it simple at the start, for sure," he said. "Then, I just tried to play the right way."

After Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin acquired a conditional first-round draft pick from the New York Islanders as part of the package he received for Bo Horvat on Jan. 30, fans were shocked when Allvin flipped that pick to Detroit in order to acquire Hronek less than a month later — while also swapping a second-round pick in 2023 for Detroit's fourth-rounder.

It remains to be seen whether that first-round pick will come out of the 2023 or 2024 draft. The Islanders can defer if they fail to make the playoffs and the pick lands in the top 12. But after a 7-2-1 run in their last 10 games, the Islanders are currently settled into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and look like a playoff team. If they get in, the pick will land in the bottom half of this year's first round.

Compared to some of the other deals that were made at the trade deadline, that's not an outlandish price for a 25-year-old right-shot blueliner who plays a multidimensional game. And Hronek is locked in for one more season at a reasonable $4.4 million cap hit before he can become an RFA with arbitration rights.

It's unusual to see a non-playoff team acquire a building block that can slot directly into the lineup during deadline season. But based on a one-game sample size, Hronek looks poised to fit in nicely with Vancouver.

If he can play big minutes on the Canucks' injury-depleted blue line and help lessen the load on Hughes in the process, so much the better.

The Canucks now hit the road for three games in four nights: Saturday in Dallas, Sunday in Chicago and Tuesday in St. Louis. With an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games, they now sit 25th in the NHL standings.