One of Ken Holland's last decisions was to draft Zadina over Hughes.
Imagine Hughes and Seider. Or we could've had an earlier version of Hughes and Hronek.
Ugh.
While it certainly is frustrating, we have top remember at the time Zadina at 6 was considered a steal. He was originally projected as like a top 3 pick.
Pre draft, I personally wanted Hughes too. The ceiling with his skating was generational defender. But every pick, except the Crosby's, McDavids, etc carries some level of risk.
Detroit needed scoring as much as they needed defenders at the time. They rolled the dice and lost.
That said, 2 teams passed on what looked like a gift as well. Every teams needs are different, but a player falling does mean that other GMs likely figured out something Holland missed
Holland and Tyler Wright. The guy was pretty much fired from Columbus for his drafting skills and took his talent to Detroit, where he continued his drafting excellence. Seriously, Wright was responsible for most of the drafting from 2013 to 2018, and if you go back and look at those drafts, there are some major whiffs.
Oh hey, Oilers fans had to experience Tyler Wright drafting as well. Apparently he was a big factor in the selection of Xavier Bourgault (I know, who?), just one pick ahead of Tyler Johnston.
Hughes filled a larger need at the time. It was obvious DeKeyser was aging out fast, Ericsson was completely shot, Cholowski wasn't living up to the hype, and Hronek was in big need of help.
I was mad at the time just because of the need Hughes filled, plus he seemed like a much better prospect all around.
There's also a very good chance we don't pick Hughes at that spot. I've heard before that if we drafted a d man at that spot it wouldn't have been Hughes. Holland definitely wasn't always a fan of undersized d men. Granted a lot of the other options still planned out better than Zadina like Bouchard
>Hughes filled a larger need at the time.
They were just going into a full rebuild. Every position was a position of need. You don't use a top pick at the start of the rebuild based on need. You take the BPA.
I almost think that played against him. Holland was on the hot seat and between Larkin, Abdelkader and DeKeyser, I think he didn't want to be seen as a guy just picking hometown kids.
> and they all work out
Abdelkader/DeKeyser fell off hard the years leading up to that draft, and even Larkin took a while to get where he is. I get why he wanted to stay away from Michigan guys.
Larkin was the clear successor to hank as Captain by the end of his rookie season. Dekeyser was an undrafted FA that was very solid until he needed hip surgery.
Yes. Helene St. James (who was the mouthpiece of the Red Wings org when Kenny was in charge) confirmed a long time ago that Bouchard would have been the pick had Zadina not dropped to us.
The Wings were never going to take Hughes.
I’d argue, at that point, Hughes wouldn't have prevented the inevitable rebuild. I also think his development would’ve been hindered with us because we were heading into to some really bad seasons and I don’t think Hughes would’ve been enough to move the needle that much more.
The league needs more win win trades so we actually see some cool shit happen, I’ve seen like 6 picks be rumored to be movable this year and I bet the draft just goes by with 0 moves. Give me more wild trades and fun please
Interesting enough Hughes had better numbers away from Hronek
59.63 CF%, 57.95 xGF%, 61.95% control of scoring chances
Hronek without Hughes had terrible numbers though
43.87 CF%, 44.86 xGF%, 46.03% control of scoring chances
Hronek can be painfully frustrating when trying to be the guy on his pair. He's a competitive dude but in Detroit that led to way too many low percentage homerun plays and frustration penalties. Hronek is a good D but it feels like he's better when he knows his role is as a complimentary player.
these numbers are a bit misleading as they basically always played together, so the situations where they didn’t play were quite skewed. Eg Hughes tended to stay on after Hronek left the ice on a change to press an offensive zone chance, and Hronek tended to be paired with other defencemen after a kill. There were vanishingly few games in which Hughes and Hronek were not on a pair together (4-6 depending on how you count them), so WOWY doesn’t work as well as it does in other circumstances. good article on the subject: https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/canucks-hockey/can-filip-hronek-carry-a-defence-pairing-does-it-matter-8964126
100% agreed. Probably the upper limit of what I would've liked but this is what he's worth imo. He's a 40 point 26 yo RHD playing 23 mins a night, you've got to lock that up if you've got the chance
Not only that but Hughes went from being a top 10 man to being the runaway Norris winner with Hronek by his side. That alone makes this signing worth it
it’s a slightly lower AAV than what hanifin just signed for, and i’d say hanifin is a bit better than hronek but hronek is an RHD — definitely feels fair and market value, there just haven’t been a ton of signings yet with the rising cap.
Hronek is almost a year younger but Hanafins size combined with his abilities is just a better deal. Still, I'm happy with the Hronek deal even if it's not a steal. Management was in a tough spot and getting this deal done now with time to cook was important vs trying to grind down a bit in August.
> I doubted the miller contract ...
Same. I didn't realise *how* close we were to where we are, so I was worried about signing a 30 year old for so long. I thought that the midpoint of his play would come before the team was (very) good.
For me, it was never the dollar amount or the player, but the term.
Hronek is 4 years younger, compliments our Norris winning centerpiece, and we're not shit. I don't think that term should be a worry.
With our window, his age, and the term; the only way that this contract could prove to be problematic is if he suddenly forgets how to play hockey, and/or we're stuck with another stagnant cap because of Covid 2.0.
If our window is shut, yolo. Who gives a fuck about our cap situation if we're a lottery team, or stuck in "we almost made it" purgatory.
I doubted the draisatl contract lmao. I sat in an A and W with my grandfather drinking root beer floats talking about how stupid the oilers were to sign a guy off one good year. There’s a reason we aren’t gms.
Canucks managed to keep Hronek at a number lower than Hughes while getting him for his full prime.
You don't worry about his 7th or 8th year right now. If anything they probably set it up to easily buy out.
Hronek is only 26 now, will be 34 by time the deal ends. Certainly better than giving an 8 year contract to 29+ aged players
Also the cap is expected to continue to rise! I’m not worried about the deal in the slightest
He got brought up pretty early on in his career and impressed right away. He just finished his seventh season which is pretty impressive for a late second rounder.
His contract was interesting cause he could go to arbitration with one year away to UFA. It's part of why Detroit traded him. He could've easily pushed himself out if he wanted.
Hell when the Canucks traded for him I thought he was already 30 lmao, I was very surprised to check his hockeydb page to see that he hadn’t turned 25 yet at the time
Feels that way because he came up ajd was kinda the only impactful young player we had on the back end until Seider
He's 26 but he's been a full time NHLer since he was 21 or 22
His play did drop off, but even though he didn't admit it. It was widely reported that he was dealing with an injury with one of his elbows. When healthy, he was very good for Vancouver.
The reason I'm pretty certain that report is true is because it was very noticeable how he stopped clapping bombs in the new year. Guy was destroying ankles and legs in the first half.
I remember the Eastern road trip, and I think he took out three or four guys with his slap shot. Yeah, I noticed that he didn't take as many slap shots as the season went along.
Can we talk about how fuckin ridiculous Forsling’s extension is for a minute? 1.5M less than this deal and he was gonna be a UFA, right?
Fuckin Zito man, that’s insane.
I don't think this a bad contract, but off the top of my head Nurse may also have the worst contract in history so probably not where you want to set the bar.
He peaked on year that he finished 8th in Vezina voting. He had one more average year, and two below average years before he became perma-injured. It's hard to tell how his career trajectory could have gone. I think he was trending closer to a Cam Ward (without the Conn Smythe) than someone like MAF.
No there have been far worse contracts in the nhl. Rick Dipietro, Erhoff, Huberdeau, Yashin, and David Clarkson are all worse.
And I say all that while hating the Nurse contract.
For most of his contract he’s been at most 2-3 mil overpaid. Hes still until very recently been our heaviest minute top D man having to carry poor partners.
If Nurse was on 6 or 7 that would be fair imo. His contract season he was one of the top D men in the NHL. Just poor timing that Klefboms injury thrust Nurse in to the top slot where he balled out.
Hes definitely not the worst contract in the league. I don’t think SCF participants can have that title when there’s guys like Huberdeau just down the road stinking up the place on an insane contract and no playoffs…
If Huberdeau can't turn it around in the next couple season that's hands down one of the worst. Interested to see what Bouchard ends up signing for given Nurses contract and the fact that Bouch is a bonafide number 1 RD putting up historic numbers.
Anything around 7 I was going to be happy with. 7.25 for a guy that will be locked into our top pairing through his prime is solid. Cap is going to rise a lot throughout the course of his contract too, so that number will look better and better.
He was a key part of our team and played a big role in allowing Quinn to have a Norris calibre season.
Exactly, there is a reason Quinn’s game finally evolved to the next level when he got away from Ethan Bear level partners. Tbh as long as it was less than Hughes is making it’s a good number. Young enough where term is fine. It’s not like good alternatives are a dime a dozen at top RD. Can also take their time developing Willander too
Good for Hronek
Looks like the trade will continue to be a win win for both parties
He was never getting the opportunity and therefore contract here given Seider
And Axel Sandin-Pellikka looks legit in Sweden and is one of the best Offensive Dman prospects in the league
Not really, they have around 19.3M in cap space left (24 if they dump Mikheyev like it’s been rumored) and Hronek is the top RHD and RFA, he was always going to be a priority over the UFAs.
Latest report is that door is still not closed on Zadorov, he wants to stay and willing to take less. We’ll see if they can make it work
Not from us. Zaddy has said he’ll take a discount to stay in Van and that its term he’s looking more for but rumor is we’ve offered 5mill and it was turned down. If that doesn’t work I don’t see any way he ends up a Canuck next year. Which is fair, after that playoff performance he should chase the bag
End of season press conference they had an awkward exchange, Paterson tried to press Hronek to talk about his injury but he refused to say he was injured.
(Dan Murphy then confirmed Hronek lied about not being injured. Second half of the season his elbow was heavily wrapped and he basically stopped shooting)
He refused to say anything really. Hronek kinda being the awkward guy really needed to prepare something but instead kinda looked childish refusing to have anything to say about anything. They gave him the softest media pressure all season and still got zero at the end of season presser, I think he'll just get the gears next year knowing that's all they'll get.
yup he stopped those ankle breaking clappers. Never saw it happen until Game 7 goal against the Oilers, and that only happened because it was now or never.
I mean the players and team have absolutely no incentive to be forthcoming on injury status, and Thats their right and shouldnt be changed imo.
Gamesmanship is a good thing
IMO, I would be happy with this. It’s a very fair deal.
If he can play RD effectively in the top 4 for his 8 prime years then you’re fine with this. If he sticks on the top pair with Hughes and even improves, then you’re in great shape.
It seems... fair? He's good, but how much of his play this year was because of Hughes? He's also a RHD, which are harder to find, and he plays a good two-way game even if the defense is lacking
Idk I never felt like he was a liability on the ice defensively, minus the oiler game I think it was where he got blown the fuck past but he also tripped himself up.
We just need that slapper that was breaking legs back and we are full steam ahead
They had to pay him anything under 7.5 was fair.
If they didn't sign Hronek and traded him. They will be trading for a Replacement, drafting a replacement, or buying a replacement at UFA.
Better to sign him. My guess was going to be 7.
This is the beginning of the "bad" contracts on the Lightning some folks thought were overpays starting to become valuable. They're going to be gems in 2-3 years.
No problem with Hronek getting this, it's a bit over his value but not by a massive amount given what he'd get in the market.
Thing is if he went to arbitration he could have very easily landed 8M given his numbers (obv inflated by Hughes to some degree but still) and walked him straight to UFA. This is a good deal for both sides, I think.
Fair value with cap rising. I think a lot of people will be surprised by what the longer term contracts will look like this year.
Actual value will depend on what Hronek you get. If it's ok top pairing Hronek from this yr then it's good value. If he turns into a better dman, which isn't crazy, given dmen arcs, it'll be even better value.
I'd be more concerned about the post-contract decline in play more than anything else value wise.
Canucks fans wanted him at $6-6.5M but realistically he probably would get $8M as a free agent and penny pinching that extra $1M when you have a solid guy that is the best player Hughes has ever played with, is a 26-year old RHD and fits in well with team chemistry already.
Good deal. Not spectacular but we can't expect every single contract to be an absolute home run in favor of the franchise.
Also, the Oilers are paying Darnell Nurse $9.5M
I don't think it is steep at all. He was always going to be 7+. Many were worried that he would be 8. I personally thought he would come in at 7.5 (and I thought that would have been fair as well).
Seriously. The worry was 8+...7.25 for a youngish RHD that is playing on your top pair is extremely reasonable. Especially with the cap expected to go up a lot during the course of it.
Hughes/Hronek was one of the best pairings in the league and now that's locked down. I realize Quinn was the biggest reason for that but Hronek played a big part too.
I'm personally very happy with this!
Yeah, I am very happy with this as well. It is a very reasonable cap hit. People are just scared by the seven I guess. People would not have commented this if it was like 6.9 or something.
Can you highlight a single player who signed recently ( go back 3, even 4 years if you need) a year away from being a UFA, who makes this contract look a little steep.
Literally, just one.
Slight overpay for now but i think this will end up being a contract everyone looks back fondly on.
Dudes only 26 and cap is going up and he'll be Hughes' partner until surplanted by Willander, if ever. So he's always going to be our #2 or #3 D and right handed.
I would have liked the term to be around 5 but I honestly don't mind this. I get Canucks fans are in a bit of a difficult relationship with him but there's no doubt he'll bounce back
I feel like people are neglecting that this contract will probably look really smart in 3 years once the cap has gone up significantly. That being said, this deal makes me appreciate how good a deal the Flames got with Weegar’s contract
Both were enough that Hughes was able to elevate his game the whole season so it's more dependent on if it continues to allow Hughes to thrive.
That's the major value of Hronek in this case. Not him in a vacuum, but him as a partner to Hughes.
depends how much credit you give him for the pair’s success. Hughes-Hronek is undoubtedly one of the best pairs in the league in a way Hughes-Schenn etc never could be
I don't like the 8 year term but ultimately the issue is that we don't have any other partner for Quinn Hughes. Tough to conjure up another RHD who works decently with Quinn. He hasn't had any consistent partner since 2020 with Tanev.
He is a 40 point, first pairing RHD who was a big reason why Hughes elevated his game into being arguably the best defenseman in the league last season. 7.25M is fair value by basically any metric, not sure why the fandom has turned on him so far
fuckit, I'll take it. We've got Hughes' partner for his window.
One of Ken Holland's last decisions was to draft Zadina over Hughes. Imagine Hughes and Seider. Or we could've had an earlier version of Hughes and Hronek. Ugh.
Every team has those missed opportunities. We drafted Juolevi over Tckachuk a few years back lol.
And virtanen over literally anyone else
That one hurts the most. Ehlers, Pastrnak, Nylander all after Virtanen
And that’s not even mentioning Larkin, Sanheim, Tuch, and even McCann (who we got at 24)
Yeah too bad we traded McCann for Gudbranson. Oh the things that could have been.
Nobody ever gives Larkin the love he deserves in this draft :(
Pastrnak somehow made it all the way to 25th in that draft lol
Who? Doesn’t ring a bell.
Dal Colle in that draft for us
80% of our fan base hated the pick at the time too, even before we knew how much of a knob of a person he was
We also draft Poolparty over Tkachuk. Happens all the time.
While it certainly is frustrating, we have top remember at the time Zadina at 6 was considered a steal. He was originally projected as like a top 3 pick.
Yup, most teams in the league would've made the same pick. Everyone was astounded that he dropped to 6th in the first place.
Yeah we should be thanking the Canadians and coyotes if anything
Hipster GM chayka
> Canadians All of them?
He fell off in the spring though. I remember watching the draft thinking no way we get Hughes and being absolutely stoked when Detroit took Zadina.
Pre draft, I personally wanted Hughes too. The ceiling with his skating was generational defender. But every pick, except the Crosby's, McDavids, etc carries some level of risk. Detroit needed scoring as much as they needed defenders at the time. They rolled the dice and lost.
That said, 2 teams passed on what looked like a gift as well. Every teams needs are different, but a player falling does mean that other GMs likely figured out something Holland missed
Holland and Tyler Wright. The guy was pretty much fired from Columbus for his drafting skills and took his talent to Detroit, where he continued his drafting excellence. Seriously, Wright was responsible for most of the drafting from 2013 to 2018, and if you go back and look at those drafts, there are some major whiffs.
Oh hey, Oilers fans had to experience Tyler Wright drafting as well. Apparently he was a big factor in the selection of Xavier Bourgault (I know, who?), just one pick ahead of Tyler Johnston.
Hughes filled a larger need at the time. It was obvious DeKeyser was aging out fast, Ericsson was completely shot, Cholowski wasn't living up to the hype, and Hronek was in big need of help. I was mad at the time just because of the need Hughes filled, plus he seemed like a much better prospect all around.
Yes, but, at the time, Zadina was considered a good pick. Just the way it shakes out sometimes
There's also a very good chance we don't pick Hughes at that spot. I've heard before that if we drafted a d man at that spot it wouldn't have been Hughes. Holland definitely wasn't always a fan of undersized d men. Granted a lot of the other options still planned out better than Zadina like Bouchard
>Hughes filled a larger need at the time. They were just going into a full rebuild. Every position was a position of need. You don't use a top pick at the start of the rebuild based on need. You take the BPA.
Playing local too, drafted out of Michigan iirc
I almost think that played against him. Holland was on the hot seat and between Larkin, Abdelkader and DeKeyser, I think he didn't want to be seen as a guy just picking hometown kids.
But if you only pick hometown kids, and they all work out, why would you not continue doing that lol?
> and they all work out Abdelkader/DeKeyser fell off hard the years leading up to that draft, and even Larkin took a while to get where he is. I get why he wanted to stay away from Michigan guys.
I agree except Larkin came in as a 2c pretty young and I dont think anyone expected much more out of a middle first round pick
Larkin was the clear successor to hank as Captain by the end of his rookie season. Dekeyser was an undrafted FA that was very solid until he needed hip surgery.
DDK was a UDFA when he signed out of Western Michigan, but I see what you're getting at with the local kids.
That’s pretty savage to say about DeKeyser. He never aged out, injuries ended his career prematurely.
Prepare yourself for Axel Sandin Pellikka and Seider.
Edvinsson, Pellikka, Seider, and Walman seems like a really decent top 4 in 2 years...
Everyone lost their mind that Zadina fell to 6 including Wings fans. Hindsight is 20/20
Hasn't it been said if Zadina wasn't there he wasn't grabbing Hughes anyway but Bouchard?
Yes. Helene St. James (who was the mouthpiece of the Red Wings org when Kenny was in charge) confirmed a long time ago that Bouchard would have been the pick had Zadina not dropped to us. The Wings were never going to take Hughes.
I mean Bouchard is still a great defenseman
Imagine Hronek with Seider! Wait
they both play the right side they never really played together much
If you guys didn't take him, Jim Benning 100% would've
Doubtful, quinn was top 3 on their draft board, especially with weisbrod's connection to the Hughes family.
Wasn’t it widely reported that DET loved Bouchard? Would Quinn still have been the pick at 6 if Zadina went 5 to Arizona?
Eh, this sub thought all the teams that passed over Zadina were idiots and Detroit got a huge steal getting him where they did.
I’d argue, at that point, Hughes wouldn't have prevented the inevitable rebuild. I also think his development would’ve been hindered with us because we were heading into to some really bad seasons and I don’t think Hughes would’ve been enough to move the needle that much more.
Norris Hughes every season confirmed.
Treat him well. Fuckin loved him on the wings. Seems to be turning into a win win trade which you love to see.
The league needs more win win trades so we actually see some cool shit happen, I’ve seen like 6 picks be rumored to be movable this year and I bet the draft just goes by with 0 moves. Give me more wild trades and fun please
WE HAVE A TRADE TO ANNOUNCE..... San Jose trades 193rd overall in exchange for a 6th round pick in 2027.
Just have him rock his handle bar all season and he’ll break PPG That stache gives him super powers
Interesting enough Hughes had better numbers away from Hronek 59.63 CF%, 57.95 xGF%, 61.95% control of scoring chances Hronek without Hughes had terrible numbers though 43.87 CF%, 44.86 xGF%, 46.03% control of scoring chances
Hronek can be painfully frustrating when trying to be the guy on his pair. He's a competitive dude but in Detroit that led to way too many low percentage homerun plays and frustration penalties. Hronek is a good D but it feels like he's better when he knows his role is as a complimentary player.
these numbers are a bit misleading as they basically always played together, so the situations where they didn’t play were quite skewed. Eg Hughes tended to stay on after Hronek left the ice on a change to press an offensive zone chance, and Hronek tended to be paired with other defencemen after a kill. There were vanishingly few games in which Hughes and Hronek were not on a pair together (4-6 depending on how you count them), so WOWY doesn’t work as well as it does in other circumstances. good article on the subject: https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/canucks-hockey/can-filip-hronek-carry-a-defence-pairing-does-it-matter-8964126
Signed through his prime so I understand the big number. Considering that the cap should be increasing again year by year, it's a fair signing.
100% agreed. Probably the upper limit of what I would've liked but this is what he's worth imo. He's a 40 point 26 yo RHD playing 23 mins a night, you've got to lock that up if you've got the chance
Plus Quinn Hughes has been vocal about liking paying with him on a pairing. They play well together.
Yea, pair chemistry with your #1 guy is a rare commodity. Worth locking up imo.
Not only that but Hughes went from being a top 10 man to being the runaway Norris winner with Hronek by his side. That alone makes this signing worth it
Quinn also liked playing with Luke Schenn, he’s able to play with anyone
Yep
I think it’s a great deal, I thought he’d be in the 8’s
*That’s Vince Dunn’s music*
it’s a slightly lower AAV than what hanifin just signed for, and i’d say hanifin is a bit better than hronek but hronek is an RHD — definitely feels fair and market value, there just haven’t been a ton of signings yet with the rising cap.
Hronek is almost a year younger but Hanafins size combined with his abilities is just a better deal. Still, I'm happy with the Hronek deal even if it's not a steal. Management was in a tough spot and getting this deal done now with time to cook was important vs trying to grind down a bit in August.
RHD though
I doubted the miller contract and we all know how that panned out so I won't have any doubts here.
> I doubted the miller contract ... Same. I didn't realise *how* close we were to where we are, so I was worried about signing a 30 year old for so long. I thought that the midpoint of his play would come before the team was (very) good. For me, it was never the dollar amount or the player, but the term. Hronek is 4 years younger, compliments our Norris winning centerpiece, and we're not shit. I don't think that term should be a worry. With our window, his age, and the term; the only way that this contract could prove to be problematic is if he suddenly forgets how to play hockey, and/or we're stuck with another stagnant cap because of Covid 2.0. If our window is shut, yolo. Who gives a fuck about our cap situation if we're a lottery team, or stuck in "we almost made it" purgatory.
“Oh Hughes, you skate so smooth!”
No! Have doubts! Miller told me it was your doubts specifically that drove him to become a better player.
I doubted the draisatl contract lmao. I sat in an A and W with my grandfather drinking root beer floats talking about how stupid the oilers were to sign a guy off one good year. There’s a reason we aren’t gms.
That root beer got you talkin’ crazy
They put the funny guy ice cream in my drink that day.
All hopped up on giggle juice.
Canucks managed to keep Hronek at a number lower than Hughes while getting him for his full prime. You don't worry about his 7th or 8th year right now. If anything they probably set it up to easily buy out.
Hronek is only 26 now, will be 34 by time the deal ends. Certainly better than giving an 8 year contract to 29+ aged players Also the cap is expected to continue to rise! I’m not worried about the deal in the slightest
I thought he was closer to 30 tbh, It felt like hes been here a while. Tbh this seems like a fair signing now.
He got brought up pretty early on in his career and impressed right away. He just finished his seventh season which is pretty impressive for a late second rounder.
Yeah I got the feeling from previous threads too that people here think he’s 30 or older, but the guy turned 26 in November lol
yea first time with VAN i saw him i thought he was 29-31 he was 25 lol
He has the facial hair of a grizzled vet and it's glorious
His contract was interesting cause he could go to arbitration with one year away to UFA. It's part of why Detroit traded him. He could've easily pushed himself out if he wanted.
Hell when the Canucks traded for him I thought he was already 30 lmao, I was very surprised to check his hockeydb page to see that he hadn’t turned 25 yet at the time
Feels that way because he came up ajd was kinda the only impactful young player we had on the back end until Seider He's 26 but he's been a full time NHLer since he was 21 or 22
cuz he looks 30 lol
> Certainly better than giving an 8 year contract to 29+ aged players *Doug Wilson wants to know your location*
I didn’t think he would settle for under 8 this is actually pretty surprising, honestly not too bad for all parties here.
People seemed sour on him by the end of the playoff run but this seems fine from what I understood about the player from the reg season.
His play did drop off, but even though he didn't admit it. It was widely reported that he was dealing with an injury with one of his elbows. When healthy, he was very good for Vancouver.
The reason I'm pretty certain that report is true is because it was very noticeable how he stopped clapping bombs in the new year. Guy was destroying ankles and legs in the first half.
He also was spotted with a wrap around his elbow for multiple playoff games
I remember the Eastern road trip, and I think he took out three or four guys with his slap shot. Yeah, I noticed that he didn't take as many slap shots as the season went along.
Seems alright for a solid 2/3 d man
Can we talk about how fuckin ridiculous Forsling’s extension is for a minute? 1.5M less than this deal and he was gonna be a UFA, right? Fuckin Zito man, that’s insane.
Something something income tax
RHD also costs an arm and a leg these days
I have no idea why I thought Hronek was older than 26. Good deal for the Nucks.
if you think this a bad contract, Darnell Nurse makes 2 million a year more
What if I think they’re both bad contracts?
Not allowed. Nurse contract is the Mendoza line of bad contracts
That implies it’s possible for someone to Mathis a bad contract in the NHL
That’d be like the Mendoza line being a .300 OPS and a .100 BA
Maldonado line below that this year yikes
Sorry, the White Sox are baseball hell :/
I put Nurse in there with Seth Jones
Can you highlight a single player who signed in the last couple years, a year away from UfA status, that makes this contract look bad?
One contract that’s historically bad doesn’t make the other bad contract good?
Nurse contract is horrible
That’s Stanley Cup finals participant Darnell Nurse to you
I don't think this a bad contract, but off the top of my head Nurse may also have the worst contract in history so probably not where you want to set the bar.
“Worst contract in history” Jack Campbell would like a word.
Huberdeau and PLD are worthy challengers too
Rick DiPietro and his 15 year deal (that the Islanders are still paying for) want to throw their hat in the ring
Wouldve been an amazing AAV had he not been perma-injured. People tend to forget that healthy DiPietro was a top 5-10 goalie in the league.
He peaked on year that he finished 8th in Vezina voting. He had one more average year, and two below average years before he became perma-injured. It's hard to tell how his career trajectory could have gone. I think he was trending closer to a Cam Ward (without the Conn Smythe) than someone like MAF.
Jeff Skinner is about to bought out lmao
I thought Seth Jones had entered the chat
No there have been far worse contracts in the nhl. Rick Dipietro, Erhoff, Huberdeau, Yashin, and David Clarkson are all worse. And I say all that while hating the Nurse contract.
For most of his contract he’s been at most 2-3 mil overpaid. Hes still until very recently been our heaviest minute top D man having to carry poor partners. If Nurse was on 6 or 7 that would be fair imo. His contract season he was one of the top D men in the NHL. Just poor timing that Klefboms injury thrust Nurse in to the top slot where he balled out. Hes definitely not the worst contract in the league. I don’t think SCF participants can have that title when there’s guys like Huberdeau just down the road stinking up the place on an insane contract and no playoffs…
If Huberdeau can't turn it around in the next couple season that's hands down one of the worst. Interested to see what Bouchard ends up signing for given Nurses contract and the fact that Bouch is a bonafide number 1 RD putting up historic numbers.
Well, it's certainly not Bobby Bonilla bad.
For sure, except Nurse is an outlier, typically not great to compare to outliers
i didn’t realize this man was 26 years old. this is a steal.
Love it, Hughes finally has a good long term partner that complements his game. Reasonable rate for a 26 year old 1st pair RHD.
Anything around 7 I was going to be happy with. 7.25 for a guy that will be locked into our top pairing through his prime is solid. Cap is going to rise a lot throughout the course of his contract too, so that number will look better and better. He was a key part of our team and played a big role in allowing Quinn to have a Norris calibre season.
Exactly, there is a reason Quinn’s game finally evolved to the next level when he got away from Ethan Bear level partners. Tbh as long as it was less than Hughes is making it’s a good number. Young enough where term is fine. It’s not like good alternatives are a dime a dozen at top RD. Can also take their time developing Willander too
Seems like he really stabilized that blueline and helped Hughes’ game get to an even higher level to this seems like a solid deal to me.
Good for Hronek Looks like the trade will continue to be a win win for both parties He was never getting the opportunity and therefore contract here given Seider And Axel Sandin-Pellikka looks legit in Sweden and is one of the best Offensive Dman prospects in the league
Will this affect Zadorov contract?
Not really, they have around 19.3M in cap space left (24 if they dump Mikheyev like it’s been rumored) and Hronek is the top RHD and RFA, he was always going to be a priority over the UFAs. Latest report is that door is still not closed on Zadorov, he wants to stay and willing to take less. We’ll see if they can make it work
Not from us. Zaddy has said he’ll take a discount to stay in Van and that its term he’s looking more for but rumor is we’ve offered 5mill and it was turned down. If that doesn’t work I don’t see any way he ends up a Canuck next year. Which is fair, after that playoff performance he should chase the bag
He likely is not getting one from Vancouver
Almost certainly
Jeff Patterson is in shambles.
Why?
End of season press conference they had an awkward exchange, Paterson tried to press Hronek to talk about his injury but he refused to say he was injured. (Dan Murphy then confirmed Hronek lied about not being injured. Second half of the season his elbow was heavily wrapped and he basically stopped shooting)
Oh ya gotcha. Didn’t realize the injury lie happened tho wow
He refused to say anything really. Hronek kinda being the awkward guy really needed to prepare something but instead kinda looked childish refusing to have anything to say about anything. They gave him the softest media pressure all season and still got zero at the end of season presser, I think he'll just get the gears next year knowing that's all they'll get.
yup he stopped those ankle breaking clappers. Never saw it happen until Game 7 goal against the Oilers, and that only happened because it was now or never.
I mean the players and team have absolutely no incentive to be forthcoming on injury status, and Thats their right and shouldnt be changed imo. Gamesmanship is a good thing
Prime Hronek with Not even in his close to his prime Huggy Bear. Absolutely solid signing and solid top pairing dmen duo.
Sounds good. Who cares. Cap is going up. What is money anyway
Idk what to think about this honestly.
Feel good about it. I don't know why anyone would feel anything else. It is a fair deal, I thought he would come in at 7.5x8 personally.
IMO, I would be happy with this. It’s a very fair deal. If he can play RD effectively in the top 4 for his 8 prime years then you’re fine with this. If he sticks on the top pair with Hughes and even improves, then you’re in great shape.
It seems... fair? He's good, but how much of his play this year was because of Hughes? He's also a RHD, which are harder to find, and he plays a good two-way game even if the defense is lacking
Well I guess it doesn’t matter how good his play was beside Hughes considering that won’t change for the next 5+ years (*monkey fist curls*)
Idk I never felt like he was a liability on the ice defensively, minus the oiler game I think it was where he got blown the fuck past but he also tripped himself up. We just need that slapper that was breaking legs back and we are full steam ahead
Isn’t it ideal if he’s successful because of hughes?
They had to pay him anything under 7.5 was fair. If they didn't sign Hronek and traded him. They will be trading for a Replacement, drafting a replacement, or buying a replacement at UFA. Better to sign him. My guess was going to be 7.
Montour is getting paid big bucks this summer
Watch him stay with Florida for 6.5
Well at that caphit, he'd still take home more actual money than Hronek would.
Hughes-Hronek for foreseeable future, not upset. But boy that takes care of the cap increase
Pretty sure oel took care of that.
You mean Jet Black Jim took care of that
This is the beginning of the "bad" contracts on the Lightning some folks thought were overpays starting to become valuable. They're going to be gems in 2-3 years. No problem with Hronek getting this, it's a bit over his value but not by a massive amount given what he'd get in the market.
Thing is if he went to arbitration he could have very easily landed 8M given his numbers (obv inflated by Hughes to some degree but still) and walked him straight to UFA. This is a good deal for both sides, I think.
Hell yeah! This is solid. Who cares how rough it is in 2033.
That contract is a steal of a deal for Nucks
Fair value with cap rising. I think a lot of people will be surprised by what the longer term contracts will look like this year. Actual value will depend on what Hronek you get. If it's ok top pairing Hronek from this yr then it's good value. If he turns into a better dman, which isn't crazy, given dmen arcs, it'll be even better value. I'd be more concerned about the post-contract decline in play more than anything else value wise.
Canucks fans wanted him at $6-6.5M but realistically he probably would get $8M as a free agent and penny pinching that extra $1M when you have a solid guy that is the best player Hughes has ever played with, is a 26-year old RHD and fits in well with team chemistry already. Good deal. Not spectacular but we can't expect every single contract to be an absolute home run in favor of the franchise. Also, the Oilers are paying Darnell Nurse $9.5M
solid and fair deal. Another solid move by Allvin
Fair deal for both sides.
8x7m was the consensus middle ground. Open market 8x8. team friendly 8x6.5m. I'll take it.
Gahdaaamn that’s a little steep but he’s a good player. Gotta pay to keep your guys sometimes
Maybe im crazy but i dont think its steep at all if hes your top pairing RHD
I don't think it is steep at all. He was always going to be 7+. Many were worried that he would be 8. I personally thought he would come in at 7.5 (and I thought that would have been fair as well).
Seriously. The worry was 8+...7.25 for a youngish RHD that is playing on your top pair is extremely reasonable. Especially with the cap expected to go up a lot during the course of it. Hughes/Hronek was one of the best pairings in the league and now that's locked down. I realize Quinn was the biggest reason for that but Hronek played a big part too. I'm personally very happy with this!
Yeah, I am very happy with this as well. It is a very reasonable cap hit. People are just scared by the seven I guess. People would not have commented this if it was like 6.9 or something.
I mean, that does sound nice
Can you highlight a single player who signed recently ( go back 3, even 4 years if you need) a year away from being a UFA, who makes this contract look a little steep. Literally, just one.
Honestly not a bad contract
Wow. Good for the Canucks and Hronek.
A little rich but I can live with it
Slight overpay for now but i think this will end up being a contract everyone looks back fondly on. Dudes only 26 and cap is going up and he'll be Hughes' partner until surplanted by Willander, if ever. So he's always going to be our #2 or #3 D and right handed.
Not bad tbh term might be too long though but still a good signing.
Only takes him to 34.... That's not that old for defence is it?
I would have liked the term to be around 5 but I honestly don't mind this. I get Canucks fans are in a bit of a difficult relationship with him but there's no doubt he'll bounce back
Wow. Ok then.
Let’s go, locked him up.
Happy for my boy. Glad we got the right price in the trade and im glad it worked out in the end for all parties :)
Honestly love the signing, take care of him for us in motor town!
Love this!
Literally right after THG makes a video taking about the Van free agents lol
I feel like people are neglecting that this contract will probably look really smart in 3 years once the cap has gone up significantly. That being said, this deal makes me appreciate how good a deal the Flames got with Weegar’s contract
Fuck yeah thats a big win he was the corner piece to the Horvat trade and proved he is worth the money especially with the chemistry with Huggy.
That’s right 🔥
I don’t mind this, term is a tad much but if we win a cup in that timespan idgaf
I don’t think it’s too much at all. He’s only 26
Oof, is he really worth that much for that long?
Depends on if they get First half or second half Hronek.
Both were enough that Hughes was able to elevate his game the whole season so it's more dependent on if it continues to allow Hughes to thrive. That's the major value of Hronek in this case. Not him in a vacuum, but him as a partner to Hughes.
depends how much credit you give him for the pair’s success. Hughes-Hronek is undoubtedly one of the best pairs in the league in a way Hughes-Schenn etc never could be
I don't like the 8 year term but ultimately the issue is that we don't have any other partner for Quinn Hughes. Tough to conjure up another RHD who works decently with Quinn. He hasn't had any consistent partner since 2020 with Tanev.
Why would you not like the 8 years? He will be 34 when the contract is up.
He is a 40 point, first pairing RHD who was a big reason why Hughes elevated his game into being arguably the best defenseman in the league last season. 7.25M is fair value by basically any metric, not sure why the fandom has turned on him so far