2023-24 Vancouver Canucks Player Review: Filip Hronek
A deep dive into the 2023-24 season of Vancouver Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek.
Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports - 2023-24 Vancouver Canucks Player Review: Filip HronekWelcome to the 2023-24 Vancouver Canucks player review series. Over the summer, we will be taking a look at Canucks players performances from the 2023-24 season. Today's player is Filip Hronek, who had five goals and 48 points in 81 games.
In Hronek, it looks like Vancouver has found the long-term partner for Quinn Hughes. The duo played over 1200 even-strength minutes together and were one of the best defensive pairs from an analytics perspective in the NHL this past season. They worked so well together that the Canucks made a sizable investment in Hronek, signing him to an eight-year extension worth $58 million.
The 2023-24 season produced plenty of milestones for Hronek. He set new career highs in assists with 43 and points with 48. Hronek also surpassed the 80 games played mark for the first time in his career and made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut. Ultimately, Hronek proved he could be a top pair defenceman on a contending team as he was able to contribute at both ends of the ice.
At the end of the season, a lot of the narrative around Hronek was that his point production dipped. While this is true, as he only had 12 points in his final 32 games, his overall game actually improved post-All-Star break. In the 32 post-All-Star break games compared to the 49 pre-All-Star break, Hronek took fewer penalties (14-3), had fewer giveaways (35-9) and threw more hits (53-33) at five on five. In short, his game evolved as the season went on, which made him a more valuable player to the lineup.
Hronek was also a big part of Vancouver's penalty kill this season. Averaging 1:58 per game, the Canucks allowed only 20 goals in the 159:18 he played shorthanded. Whether during the regular season or playoffs, Hronek was a solid secondary option for Rick Tocchet and his staff and should play a similar role next year.
This season, Hronek was also able to showcase just how hard he can shoot the puck. During the regular season, his hardest record shot was clocked at 161.53 km/hr, while his average shot speed was 104.73 km/hr, which ranked in the 90th percentile. Hronek also ranked in the 96th percentile of shots ranging from 113-129 km/hr, with 133 of his shots hitting the threshold. If he can continue to rocket shots toward the net while increasing his accuracy, there is little doubt that Hronek can hit double-digit goals next season.
As for the playoffs, this is where Hronek's dip in production was most notable. In 13 games, he had two points but finished with a plus/minus of minus three. That being said, there are some positives when it comes to his defensive game, including 15 blocked shots and 25 hits. With this being his first time playing in the postseason, the hope is Hronek can learn from the experience and be more productive during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
One positive statistic that did jump out from the playoffs when it comes to Hronek is NHL EDGE's zone time percentage. During the postseason, Hronek only spent 39.3% of his even strength time, which ranked in the 69th percentile in the defensive zone, while his 44.3% time spent in the offensive zone ranked in the 87th percentile. That means that 60.6% of the time Hronek was on the ice, the puck was outside of the defensive zone. While possession doesn't always translate into scoring, these percentages are encouraging and show how good the team was at keeping the puck out of their own zone when he was on the ice.
In the end, Hronek brought plenty of value to Vancouver's lineup throughout the year. While it is early, it is clear that this is a trade the Canucks won, especially if Hronek can continue to develop chemistry with Hughes and replicate his performance from last season. A player who does his talking on the ice, Hronek has become part of Vancouver's core, and a defender fans should ensure they pick up or draft for the upcoming fantasy hockey season.
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