Prior to Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline, the Vancouver Canucks made a trade that has been widely regarded amongst fans (of the Canucks and just across the league) as a head-scratcher.
The official trade was the Canucks trading a 1st round pick (not theirs, but the one they acquired from the New York Islanders in the Bo Horvat trade) and their 2nd round pick in this upcoming draft to the Detroit Red Wings for Filip Hronek and the Red Wings’ 4th round pick in this upcoming draft.
GM Patrik Allvin announced today that the Canucks have acquired D Filip Hronek and Detroit's 2023 4th rd pick in exchange for the conditional 1st rd draft pick acquired in the Bo Horvat trade with the New York Islanders and Vancouver’s 2nd rd pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. pic.twitter.com/fm1IqhLByB
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 1, 2023
The reason why this was a head-scratcher across the league was because how the trade doesn’t make sense for either team. The Red Wings traded away their 2nd best defender for draft picks when the Red Wings are still in the fight for a playoff spot, in sitting a few points behind the final wild card spot. The Red Wings aren’t at a point where they should be selling off their team.
On the other hand, the Canucks were in no position to make this trade either since they’re in the opposite boat of the Red Wings. The Canucks are 6th last in the league and while not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet, we all know they’re not making it. For a team that’s out of the playoffs and trying to rebuild, getting a 25-year-old doesn’t make sense, especially while giving up draft picks to get him. Hronek isn’t that old, but he isn’t particularly young either.
Vancity blue, looks good on you!
Welcome to Vancouver, Filip! pic.twitter.com/iYc1d13uML
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 2, 2023
Regardless of how you look at the trade, Hronek was the only player involved in this trade, as everything else in this trade will be determined later down the line. Hronek spoke to the media Friday morning about how excited he is to join the Canucks and their young core that they have in place. He also stated how he always enjoyed coming to the city Vancouver whenever he would face them as a member of the Red Wings.
Filip Hronek meets with the media for the first time since joining the Vancouver Canucks. pic.twitter.com/ds9zgCs56O
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 3, 2023
He also stated how he’s excited at the thought of playing with Quinn Hughes on a defence pairing in the future. To finalize the interview, he told the media that former Canuck, Troy Stecher, informed Hronek how great it is in Vancouver and some great place to eat. Hronek and Stecher played together in Detroit for 2 season in Detroit.