Hughes and Hronek was one of the best pairings in the league during 2023. Things tapered off in the new year, but I don't think it's a stretch to say they will figure it out. At 24 and 26 years old, both are just entering the primes.
Hronek /
Roy /
Myers / Juulsen
Is that what you’re thinking on the right side? Then maybe like:
Hughes /
? /
Soucy
On the left? I think you’d want a more defensive player on the left to pair with Roy
Roy is great defensively and offensively, so his partner shouldn't matter too much
Mind you he thrived with Gavrikov so I'd throw up Dillon as a comparable, he has at least a year or two of top 4 juice left in him. That would make a good shutdown pair that can generate 50-60 points a season, not too shabby
I'd like to think the role of the D in our offensive structure would allow Roy to put up 30-40 points too
If we get Roy and Dillon, Myers is almost certainly gone unless if we put a Class 6 UFA or a league min guy into Joshua's spot
I’m not so sure that Myers ends up going anywhere else. He seems like the one player that by reports has been eager to bend on some money to stay. Lives here and has been with the org for a hot minute
Dillon would be a great get in that more physical defender role that Zadorov would potentially leave
It's all about who we get in FA.
Dillon & Roy are significant upgrades from Myers. They're second pair guys, and Myers is a #5 at this stage in his career. If we can get both Roy/Dillon, even if Myers is willing to take a paycut to 3M, we wouldn't be able to fit them all in.
Could always see if he'll take a 1.5 x 4 or something instead of a 3 x 2. Same amount of money.
1.95M. I see it coming.
Should still offer him like 3-4 years at that to give him some insurance against injury. Such a team guy. We want him around even if he's not playing.
I like Myers. For all the grief he gets, he stoically goes about his job and does decent work with it. Everyone gets on his case cause it's fun, and he's been a great sport about it. We need that neck/60 to stay high. He was a bit over paid but gave us enough to warrant some love. He also makes us harder to play against, not easier. Used properly, he can continue to shine.
I hope they work it out and he stays.
I’ve got a lot of time for Roy, but his career high is 26 points… and he wouldn’t play on either PP unit here. Im not sure 30-40 points is really realistic unless he was glued to QH43 all year.
Dillon has a career high of 23. So those 2 putting up 50-60 points while being a matchup pairing seems like a pretty big stretch.
His offense driving stats are the best of the UFA crop (except for maybe Montour) and this was in the LA trap system. He's also pretty active off the rush as well if you search up some of his goals over the years.
Considering how reliant our offensive scheme is on our D-men, I think he would thrive here. He's pretty mobile in the O-zone based on the footage I've seen from him, and has great straight line speed for a guy his size. His hardest shot is 98.15 mph, good for second on the team, and he's in the 80-85th percentile in volume of these hard shots.
I wouldn't bet on 40 but I could certainly see him getting to the low to mid end of that range
Anything over $5M is a mistake for Zadorov especially if he wants more than 5 years. We can’t commit that to a guy who plays 17 minutes a game just because he was physical.
Yes, no clauses in the last half of the year. I would try to push it down to $4M cap if it means 8 years. I don't think he'd be as impactful in his mid 30s, but I would make this signing because we are trying to win in the next 3-4 years.
I think it’s inevitable, unfortunately. Even if the rumours are true that he’d take a bit of a discount to stay with us, I think it’ll still be outside of what Allvin is comfortable with.
Elias Pettersson, Tom Willander
Willander is gonna cook in the AHL and might get some games later, Pettersson I believe this is the idea too but he’s older and could be ready to step in to sheltered 3rd pair minutes if needed. Truth is management has stressed letting prospects cook in the AHL for longer and not rushing them so I don’t see either of those guys getting more than a few games here and there unless they blow the doors off in those few games
He’s already committed for another season. He’ll join the team late in the year for a cup of coffee. See how he does, but will probably start the following season in Abby
For me, Dylan DeMelo is the guy they should be all over. If he shakes out of Winnipeg it’s essentially like Tanev leaving Vancouver.
Gives them an option to have someone they can play a lot of minutes next to Hughes and they can still load up with Hughes/Hronek situationally.
Essentially Toch’ can choose between a Tanev-type stay at home defender for Hughes, or an offensive supercharger like Hronek.
Yep, now that we have Hughes and Hronek manning the top, we need the other 4 D to be bruising, physical defenders.
DeMelo, Dillion, Myers, Juulsen, come on down
To counter that DeMelo might come out to a similar price if not more than Roy if he doesn't take a discount to stay in Winnipeg. If I were to choose between the two at 5.5 or even 6M I'd still go Roy based on his physicality, straight line speed, bomb of a shot & offensive pop
DeMelo had 30 points in a contract year and played 22 minutes a night beside JMo. He might end up getting paid as a #2 by some desperate team looking at purely the counting stats and not how his defensive play declined sharply with 2 additional minutes a game.
I’d be totally cool with Roy, but I feel like gets the bigger contract of the two. Granted, he is a bit younger. I think both guys could play the role of Caddy next to QH43.
I feel like Roy probably gets 5ish x 6 years =30ish million, whereas DeMelo probably gets 5ish x 4 years = 20ish mill. And I think 4 years gives you runway for Willander to step into that role.
That said.. my heart just days give that money to Zadorov
Eh, idk. Allvin also seemed adamant at the year end that Hronek has more to give and he’d like to see him run his own pair.
I like Hughes and Hronek as a pairing when you’re thirsting for offence, down a goal or 2. It would be nice to see Hronek on his own pair sometimes and thrive.
I think Dillon would be really good partner for him, hopefully comes in at 3M or less, and when he’s done maybe EP2 can step in.
Hughes - Tanev
Dillon - Hronek
Soucy - Myers
I think that’s be my dream defense, but we’d need to probably move about 4-5Ms out in salary if we’re also signing Guentzel to make it all work.
After spending all that money on D, how do you propose we fix the forward problem? Even if you convince yourself both Garland and Hog can play in the top 6, you need to sign at least one more guy and fill out your depth.
Hey, I think that would be awesome if he could. The numbers didn’t look good away from Hughes last year but I could see it with the right D partner, him being the main offensive producer on a line of his own. (This scenario also allows us to be able to bring back Papa Tanev so I’m all for it)
I don't really want to see him drive his own pair to be honest. I want him and Hughes to be paired up as much as possible and let them continue to build. They were one of the best pairings in the league last year, hopefully more playtime in the regular season just helps to improve or at least solidify that.
You kind of have to, especially when you've committed to Hronek for 8 years.
Canucks were extremely lucky last season with injuries in the regular season. Maybe not so much in the playoffs.
What happens if Hughes gets injured? Hronek's probably going to have to carry a top-pair by himself with someone like Soucy.
Yea, Toews getting that dollar figure from 30 into his late 30s vs Hronek signing from 26-34 is a huge value difference for similar money.
Hronek got buyout protection though that Hanifin and Toews didn't get. If they all fall off you can buy out the last two years of Hanifins deal for $1.9x4 - Hronek on the other hand you'll only be able to bury in the minors for $1M in savings if it gets that bad but is otherwise guaranteed.
Totally, just saying the numbers don't really explain that Toews is in reality being valued much higher right now with more fall off risk priced in. Apples to oranges in that respect.
If we paid him 8+M, he'd better run his own pair for over 8M but at 7.25M I'm not going to be too fussed if he spends that entire deal next to Hughes. The deal being good to great basically hinges on whether or not his second half was just due to injury or he legit just sucks in the 2nd half of the season.
I'm surprised Janda is suggesting Hronek would be on his own pair away from Hughes. He was signed solely to be Hughes' partner for the next 8 years. He's not playing anywhere else.
I don't understand this obsessions with "driving his own pair".
Hughes showed that with Hronek he's a Norris level defenceman. Much like a center needs a winger, its reasonable to expect a defenceman to need a capable partner. No one would blink if the Canucks signed Guentzel to a $7.25M deal to be a winger with Pettersson. We wouldn't talk about his need to "drive his own line" to justify his salary. Its also a case where RD is the most scarce position in the league for top talent. We should be happy that the Canucks have built around Hughes by keeping Hronek in the fold.
So the Canucks have just solidified the 25 minutes a night that Hughes plays for the foreseeable future. That's a good deal.
It’s also not like he was a total scrub before coming to Vancouver, and then magically became a good player next to Hughes…
He cost a 1st & 2nd for a reason, because he was an early-prime aged top-4 d-man that was on a 50 point pace before being traded to Van.
https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1631050647242981379?s=46
I'm more curious if big teams can chase the pair in the playoffs. We had to pair up Hughes with a bigger stronger guy at times against teams that could cycle the puck in our end with big guys up front. If Hughes and Hronek can generate turnovers it doesn't matter but if our Soucy and budget 2RD can't play shutdown next year we might see this become a bigger problem.
In the 3 draft years 2015-2016, only 7 dmen with more than 100 games played have a higher p/gp than Hronek:
Makar 1.07
Fox 0.86
Werenski 0.62
McAvoy 0.61
Heiskanen 0.61
Chabot 0.60
Sergachev 0.54
Hronek 0.53
And Hronek is 13th among dmen from those 3 drafts in total TOI, and 14th in total PP TOI.
Edit:
All of these guys make $8 - 9.5M, Chabot is the lowest at $8M and that deal was signed 5 years ago..
Do these reporters have a brain or do they just parrot stuff they hear on Reddit. Why would Hronek need to drive his own pair. Does it look like the Canucks have any other RHD to play with Quinn? Does Devon Toews drive his own pair? 🙄
I don’t think this has more standing on Zadorov because Hronek was an RFA. They still have some money for Zadorov but I think they know they can’t be in the business of overpaying right now
Why does he need to drive his own pair? Should Colorado split up Toews and Makar? Edmonton should split up Bouchard and Ekholm? Vegas split up Hanafin and Petro? If Hronek and Hughes play well together, why does money matter? There is not a set salary cap on D-pairings.
Hughes and Hronek was one of the best pairings in the league during 2023. Things tapered off in the new year, but I don't think it's a stretch to say they will figure it out. At 24 and 26 years old, both are just entering the primes.
Hronek was obviously dealing with an injury that effected his play. Next year will say a lot
I'm less concerned with his play and more concerned with his durability (or lack thereof)
I bet the old shoulder was aggravated but he played through it and got physio.
He won't have to. As long as he's here, he'll be with Hughes. Getting a two-way guy like Roy should be the way forward with the second pairing.
Hronek / Roy / Myers / Juulsen Is that what you’re thinking on the right side? Then maybe like: Hughes / ? / Soucy On the left? I think you’d want a more defensive player on the left to pair with Roy
Roy is great defensively and offensively, so his partner shouldn't matter too much Mind you he thrived with Gavrikov so I'd throw up Dillon as a comparable, he has at least a year or two of top 4 juice left in him. That would make a good shutdown pair that can generate 50-60 points a season, not too shabby I'd like to think the role of the D in our offensive structure would allow Roy to put up 30-40 points too If we get Roy and Dillon, Myers is almost certainly gone unless if we put a Class 6 UFA or a league min guy into Joshua's spot
I’m not so sure that Myers ends up going anywhere else. He seems like the one player that by reports has been eager to bend on some money to stay. Lives here and has been with the org for a hot minute Dillon would be a great get in that more physical defender role that Zadorov would potentially leave
It's all about who we get in FA. Dillon & Roy are significant upgrades from Myers. They're second pair guys, and Myers is a #5 at this stage in his career. If we can get both Roy/Dillon, even if Myers is willing to take a paycut to 3M, we wouldn't be able to fit them all in. Could always see if he'll take a 1.5 x 4 or something instead of a 3 x 2. Same amount of money.
I can see myers taking 2.5m for 2 yrs but alvin is ruthless and would probably tell him to take 2m or go elsewhere.
1.95M. I see it coming. Should still offer him like 3-4 years at that to give him some insurance against injury. Such a team guy. We want him around even if he's not playing.
I like Myers. For all the grief he gets, he stoically goes about his job and does decent work with it. Everyone gets on his case cause it's fun, and he's been a great sport about it. We need that neck/60 to stay high. He was a bit over paid but gave us enough to warrant some love. He also makes us harder to play against, not easier. Used properly, he can continue to shine. I hope they work it out and he stays.
If myers doesnt wind up somewhere else, cut him loose and if he really likes it here he can play for abbotsford lol
I’ve got a lot of time for Roy, but his career high is 26 points… and he wouldn’t play on either PP unit here. Im not sure 30-40 points is really realistic unless he was glued to QH43 all year. Dillon has a career high of 23. So those 2 putting up 50-60 points while being a matchup pairing seems like a pretty big stretch.
His offense driving stats are the best of the UFA crop (except for maybe Montour) and this was in the LA trap system. He's also pretty active off the rush as well if you search up some of his goals over the years. Considering how reliant our offensive scheme is on our D-men, I think he would thrive here. He's pretty mobile in the O-zone based on the footage I've seen from him, and has great straight line speed for a guy his size. His hardest shot is 98.15 mph, good for second on the team, and he's in the 80-85th percentile in volume of these hard shots. I wouldn't bet on 40 but I could certainly see him getting to the low to mid end of that range
We would not need Myers if they signed both Roy and Dillon
Dream scenario would be: Hughes - Hronek Soucy - Roy Dillon - Myers
Letting Zadorov go?
Anything over $5M is a mistake for Zadorov especially if he wants more than 5 years. We can’t commit that to a guy who plays 17 minutes a game just because he was physical.
If we get him 4.25M/8 years would you take it?
Yes, no clauses in the last half of the year. I would try to push it down to $4M cap if it means 8 years. I don't think he'd be as impactful in his mid 30s, but I would make this signing because we are trying to win in the next 3-4 years.
I think it’s inevitable, unfortunately. Even if the rumours are true that he’d take a bit of a discount to stay with us, I think it’ll still be outside of what Allvin is comfortable with.
Do any of our d prospects get in the mix this year?
Do we have any serious d prospects?
Willander/DPetey/Hirose/McWard
Serious though. McWard maybe, Willander yes. DPetey yes. Hirose has mountains to climb physically this offseason. Hope he trains HARD!
Elias Pettersson, Tom Willander Willander is gonna cook in the AHL and might get some games later, Pettersson I believe this is the idea too but he’s older and could be ready to step in to sheltered 3rd pair minutes if needed. Truth is management has stressed letting prospects cook in the AHL for longer and not rushing them so I don’t see either of those guys getting more than a few games here and there unless they blow the doors off in those few games
Im sure Willander will play on BC again this year.
He’s already committed for another season. He’ll join the team late in the year for a cup of coffee. See how he does, but will probably start the following season in Abby
For me, Dylan DeMelo is the guy they should be all over. If he shakes out of Winnipeg it’s essentially like Tanev leaving Vancouver. Gives them an option to have someone they can play a lot of minutes next to Hughes and they can still load up with Hughes/Hronek situationally. Essentially Toch’ can choose between a Tanev-type stay at home defender for Hughes, or an offensive supercharger like Hronek.
DeMelo has been steady his whole career so he’d be a welcome addition
Yep, now that we have Hughes and Hronek manning the top, we need the other 4 D to be bruising, physical defenders. DeMelo, Dillion, Myers, Juulsen, come on down
To counter that DeMelo might come out to a similar price if not more than Roy if he doesn't take a discount to stay in Winnipeg. If I were to choose between the two at 5.5 or even 6M I'd still go Roy based on his physicality, straight line speed, bomb of a shot & offensive pop DeMelo had 30 points in a contract year and played 22 minutes a night beside JMo. He might end up getting paid as a #2 by some desperate team looking at purely the counting stats and not how his defensive play declined sharply with 2 additional minutes a game.
I’d be totally cool with Roy, but I feel like gets the bigger contract of the two. Granted, he is a bit younger. I think both guys could play the role of Caddy next to QH43. I feel like Roy probably gets 5ish x 6 years =30ish million, whereas DeMelo probably gets 5ish x 4 years = 20ish mill. And I think 4 years gives you runway for Willander to step into that role. That said.. my heart just days give that money to Zadorov
Eh, idk. Allvin also seemed adamant at the year end that Hronek has more to give and he’d like to see him run his own pair. I like Hughes and Hronek as a pairing when you’re thirsting for offence, down a goal or 2. It would be nice to see Hronek on his own pair sometimes and thrive. I think Dillon would be really good partner for him, hopefully comes in at 3M or less, and when he’s done maybe EP2 can step in. Hughes - Tanev Dillon - Hronek Soucy - Myers I think that’s be my dream defense, but we’d need to probably move about 4-5Ms out in salary if we’re also signing Guentzel to make it all work.
That’s exactly how I envision the blueline next season (albeit, sub Tanev for Demelo)
Never say never. He will if Hughes ever gets injured.
After spending all that money on D, how do you propose we fix the forward problem? Even if you convince yourself both Garland and Hog can play in the top 6, you need to sign at least one more guy and fill out your depth.
Sign a vet to whatever space you have left for 1 year.
Roy? I'm out of the loop a bit.
The best two way defenseman of the crop by a large margin, someone who'd actually be worth a 6x6
I think myself that he actually won’t be driving his own pair and will be staying put next to Hughes in a “*if it ain’t broke don’t fix it*” role
I guarantee that they have a plan to develop him so that he can carry his own line.
Hey, I think that would be awesome if he could. The numbers didn’t look good away from Hughes last year but I could see it with the right D partner, him being the main offensive producer on a line of his own. (This scenario also allows us to be able to bring back Papa Tanev so I’m all for it)
Hughes/Hronek V Makar/Toews will be a fun comparison for the next few years
I don't really want to see him drive his own pair to be honest. I want him and Hughes to be paired up as much as possible and let them continue to build. They were one of the best pairings in the league last year, hopefully more playtime in the regular season just helps to improve or at least solidify that.
You kind of have to, especially when you've committed to Hronek for 8 years. Canucks were extremely lucky last season with injuries in the regular season. Maybe not so much in the playoffs. What happens if Hughes gets injured? Hronek's probably going to have to carry a top-pair by himself with someone like Soucy.
For reference, Hronek is almost 4 years younger than Toews. Nov. 1997 birthday vs Feb. 1994 birthday. Hronek is also RHD vs. Toews who is LHD.
I think it’s more about that they are players that two of the top defenders in the league like playing with as a partner
Oh for sure, I just wanted to add some helpful info about their ages!
Very fair! Thanks!
Yea, Toews getting that dollar figure from 30 into his late 30s vs Hronek signing from 26-34 is a huge value difference for similar money. Hronek got buyout protection though that Hanifin and Toews didn't get. If they all fall off you can buy out the last two years of Hanifins deal for $1.9x4 - Hronek on the other hand you'll only be able to bury in the minors for $1M in savings if it gets that bad but is otherwise guaranteed.
In theory yes, however Toews is just a better dman. As simple as that for me.
Totally, just saying the numbers don't really explain that Toews is in reality being valued much higher right now with more fall off risk priced in. Apples to oranges in that respect.
If we paid him 8+M, he'd better run his own pair for over 8M but at 7.25M I'm not going to be too fussed if he spends that entire deal next to Hughes. The deal being good to great basically hinges on whether or not his second half was just due to injury or he legit just sucks in the 2nd half of the season.
He's partnered with Hughes, he doesn't need to drive his own pair.
Allvin offered 8x8 but only if Hronek agreed to be at the press conference. Hronek chose the lower salary.
😂 all hronek said was “no”.
Good one 😀
Why does hronek need to drive his own pair??? He and quinn play 25 min a night together and at their best have overwhelming puck control%.
I'm surprised Janda is suggesting Hronek would be on his own pair away from Hughes. He was signed solely to be Hughes' partner for the next 8 years. He's not playing anywhere else.
Anson Carter says Hronek should have to share some his $ with Hughes. 😂
He probably still thinks the Sedins should share $ with him
😅😅😅
I don't understand this obsessions with "driving his own pair". Hughes showed that with Hronek he's a Norris level defenceman. Much like a center needs a winger, its reasonable to expect a defenceman to need a capable partner. No one would blink if the Canucks signed Guentzel to a $7.25M deal to be a winger with Pettersson. We wouldn't talk about his need to "drive his own line" to justify his salary. Its also a case where RD is the most scarce position in the league for top talent. We should be happy that the Canucks have built around Hughes by keeping Hronek in the fold. So the Canucks have just solidified the 25 minutes a night that Hughes plays for the foreseeable future. That's a good deal.
Not just Hughes… Makar is noticeably worse without toews as well.
It’s also not like he was a total scrub before coming to Vancouver, and then magically became a good player next to Hughes… He cost a 1st & 2nd for a reason, because he was an early-prime aged top-4 d-man that was on a 50 point pace before being traded to Van. https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1631050647242981379?s=46
I'm more curious if big teams can chase the pair in the playoffs. We had to pair up Hughes with a bigger stronger guy at times against teams that could cycle the puck in our end with big guys up front. If Hughes and Hronek can generate turnovers it doesn't matter but if our Soucy and budget 2RD can't play shutdown next year we might see this become a bigger problem.
Hronek was fine in limited minutes away from Hughes.
"Canucks re-sign the best partner Hughes has ever had in his career. Let's see how he plays away from Hughes now."
In the 3 draft years 2015-2016, only 7 dmen with more than 100 games played have a higher p/gp than Hronek: Makar 1.07 Fox 0.86 Werenski 0.62 McAvoy 0.61 Heiskanen 0.61 Chabot 0.60 Sergachev 0.54 Hronek 0.53 And Hronek is 13th among dmen from those 3 drafts in total TOI, and 14th in total PP TOI. Edit: All of these guys make $8 - 9.5M, Chabot is the lowest at $8M and that deal was signed 5 years ago..
Do these reporters have a brain or do they just parrot stuff they hear on Reddit. Why would Hronek need to drive his own pair. Does it look like the Canucks have any other RHD to play with Quinn? Does Devon Toews drive his own pair? 🙄
So this means no for Z?
I don’t think this has more standing on Zadorov because Hronek was an RFA. They still have some money for Zadorov but I think they know they can’t be in the business of overpaying right now
Love to see tanev back and push Hronek to second pairing with sousy and have myers in third pair
Enough of this crap, driving his own pair implies splitting them up, why the F would we split them up
How is Toews at all comparable? Toews is 3 years older than Hronek
Both are robin to batman.
Why does he need to drive his own pair? Should Colorado split up Toews and Makar? Edmonton should split up Bouchard and Ekholm? Vegas split up Hanafin and Petro? If Hronek and Hughes play well together, why does money matter? There is not a set salary cap on D-pairings.
What a brutal deal. This contract is the new canucks albatross contract that they will be regretting for years....
Tuesday night and this guys drunk
or was it u
Oh boy, I thought the Oilers were the only ones giving out crazy contracts to 4th Defenseman. How are the Canucks going to sign Guentzel now?
Omg, what a horrible contract for Vancouver! I want his agent… same one as Nurse?