DownUndaCanuck Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 14 hours ago, Diamonds said: I definitely appreciated Hronek's game against SJ. As you said, just a steady presence with nice quick passes and not being out of position. It's too bad OEL isn't healthy right now to see if he and Hronek might have chemistry. If they did, if would allow management to go hard after Mayfield to partner with Hughes. It would make a really well balanced top 4. Then when you want more offense put Hronek with Hughes and create a true shutdown pairing with OEL and Mayfield. Mayfield might only have 3 or 4 good years left, but since management says they want to start competing next season he could make a lot of sense and would give really good options as a counterpart to Hronek. Got to agree with this, I hope we're not still just hunting for young guys. We're one of the youngest teams in the league now, but also the shortest and like 2nd or 3rd lightest I believe. Mayfield would change that pretty quickly. We've got a good young core to build around now - it's time to add some decent quality to the top-4 and that doesn't necessarily have to be someone under 25 or it'll cost us another couple of firsts. Personally I'd rather we go after one of the sturdy LDs like Graves or Gavrikov, throw 5-6M at them and pair them with Hronek to form a strange sort of top shutdown pairing, a bit like a rich man's OEL-Myers. Imagine the damage Hughes (alongside whoever) could do as a "2nd pairing". Gavrikov-Hronek pairs up against opponent's top lines, Hughes against their 2nd lines and 2nd defensive pairings would be a nightmare for them to contain, and Hronek can let loose a bit more offensively as well. I'd be all for Mayfield or acquiring any sort of veteran RD though to play with Hughes, making OEL-Hronek a sort of 2nd pairing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singing chef Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 ..... and for all those "The Sky Is Falling" posters who were ready to lynch management for trading the 1st. round draft pick the Canucks obtained in the Horvat trade which was "top 12 protected" and they thought the Islanders would fail miserably this year and defer the pick until next year when it would become a non-protected 1st. round draft pick and a potential lottery draft pick, you can all sleep easy since, mathematically, the pick will now be, at best (worst ?), 13th overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucks Curse Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Any news on rehab for his shoulder hopefully he comes back healthy +++ we didn’t get to see his slap shot which is one of his best assets- and something we have not had since salo JB tried getting a d man with a slapper since he arrived Hronek not being ready for the season would be really bad news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted May 21, 2023 Author Share Posted May 21, 2023 6 hours ago, Canucks Curse said: Any news on rehab for his shoulder hopefully he comes back healthy +++ we didn’t get to see his slap shot which is one of his best assets- and something we have not had since salo JB tried getting a d man with a slapper since he arrived Hronek not being ready for the season would be really bad news Edler had a bomb for a few years that was at least as hard as Salo's, but not as accurate. Ehrhoff's was quite amazing, but that was a short time period. Some other good shots from the blue line, but I'm not sure any really stand out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chon derry Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 On 5/21/2023 at 1:31 AM, -AJ- said: Edler had a bomb for a few years that was at least as hard as Salo's, but not as accurate. Ehrhoff's was quite amazing, but that was a short time period. Some other good shots from the blue line, but I'm not sure any really stand out. Gerald Diduk had an absolute bomb of shot. Was a good skater but was a better scrapper. He never initiated fights but he did put an end to them. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c00kies Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 On 5/21/2023 at 3:31 AM, -AJ- said: Edler had a bomb for a few years that was at least as hard as Salo's, but not as accurate. Ehrhoff's was quite amazing, but that was a short time period. Some other good shots from the blue line, but I'm not sure any really stand out. Ehrhoff has a nice slapper, but it was his ability to skate and make good pinches (followed by a wrist shot) that worked well for him. I'd like to see Hughes skate closer and wrist it rather than just flub muffins to the net. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck73_3 Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 On 6/6/2023 at 10:44 AM, c00kies said: Ehrhoff has a nice slapper, but it was his ability to skate and make good pinches (followed by a wrist shot) that worked well for him. I'd like to see Hughes skate closer and wrist it rather than just flub muffins to the net. The annoying thing with Quinn is he occasionally has a bomb however there is 15-25 muffins between them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kloubek Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 10 hours ago, canuck73_3 said: The annoying thing with Quinn is he occasionally has a bomb however there is 15-25 muffins between them. I wouldn't call his shot a "bomb". He can let it go, at times but that little body can only do so much. As for the comment by Cookies for him to pinch and play deeper, I agree. That'd be made possible by a defender pairing he can trust. Which is why I think it's imperative to move Myers asap, and get that exact-fit guy to play right side of Hughes. I don't believe that's why Hronek was brought in, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRAZY_4_NAZZY Posted August 1, 2023 Share Posted August 1, 2023 Can't wait to see what a healthy Hronek can do for our backend. I really hope he can take some of the heavy load off of Hughes and create a more balanced top 4. Really need him to be a hit on the blueline, can't afford a slow start. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Erased Posted August 2, 2023 Share Posted August 2, 2023 5 hours ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said: Can't wait to see what a healthy Hronek can do for our backend. I really hope he can take some of the heavy load off of Hughes and create a more balanced top 4. Really need him to be a hit on the blueline, can't afford a slow start. Yeah, I think we will see that. Heck, he played good while still hurt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Lasso Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 On 8/1/2023 at 8:56 PM, Citizen Erased said: Yeah, I think we will see that. Heck, he played good while still hurt. Plus he’ll be motivated by a contract year, and has a couple years left before reaching the typical prime for a dman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 10 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said: Plus he’ll be motivated by a contract year, and has a couple years left before reaching the typical prime for a dman I'd prefer to see a mediocre or average first year from him because with the contracts top 4 RHD are getting he could very well screw us if he rides Huggy's train 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Lasso Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 4 minutes ago, Warhippy said: I'd prefer to see a mediocre or average first year from him because with the contracts top 4 RHD are getting he could very well screw us if he rides Huggy's train Fair point, and a silver lining if he doesn’t light it up. How do you see him being deployed, and with what partner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Erased Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 9 minutes ago, Warhippy said: I'd prefer to see a mediocre or average first year from him because with the contracts top 4 RHD are getting he could very well screw us if he rides Huggy's train I hadn’t considered that, but you make a good point. Hopefully at least a couple of the bad contracts are moved by then anyway, just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 2 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said: Fair point, and a silver lining if he doesn’t light it up. How do you see him being deployed, and with what partner? There's almost no chance he doesn't start with Hughes. After that it's hard to say because if they're a defensive nightmare it's gonna be another year of blender matching until something sticks for more than 15 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Lasso Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Warhippy said: There's almost no chance he doesn't start with Hughes. After that it's hard to say because if they're a defensive nightmare it's gonna be another year of blender matching until something sticks for more than 15 games. Interesting, I haven’t read that take before. Why do you think they’ll start together? Seems like the consensus has been a second pair of Soucy-Hronek edit - agree it will probably take a bit of experimenting before we see consistent pairs Edited August 9, 2023 by Ted Lasso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Just now, Citizen Erased said: I hadn’t considered that, but you make a good point. Hopefully at least a couple of the bad contracts are moved by then anyway, just in case. The biggest issue comes down to the ehrhoff factor. Edler in his prime allowed Ehrhoff in the regular season to be an offensive machine because he was almost the perfect rover for him. Hughes is NOT that to Hronek and we stand to potentially see a purely offensive pairing which does not work and not a thing Tocchet would be keen to ice on the regular. Should that change and we see a 15-30 game pairing of Hughes/Hronek we will see some solid point totals but also I expect some defensive lapses. Hronek will be paid based on production as much as he will defensive acumen. The issue is that PP time with Hughes/Petey will inflate the hell out of his totals just like the twins did Ehrhoff who left for a solid pay day and "shot at the cup" in buffalo lol It's almost worth hoping we do not see a Hronek/Hughes pairing because defensively it could be a nightmare, while offensively could light it up. But more importantly, again judging by the contracts of top 4 RHD or even fringe top 4 rhd over the last 3 seasons Hronek could easily command $7.5+ million. Just think of what Devon toews is going to be commanding in Colorado after this season while being paired with makar. Is he a great partner like edler/ehrhoff? An all around solid defenseman on his own? or a player riding an incredible top line and franchise defenseman? Where does Hronek fall in with that? because that will be the benchmark That's what we don't know about with Hronek yet. Hell, I am still on the fence until i see how that shoulder stands up to the first 30 games of the season as it stands. But I have concerns about what a breakout season will be doing to his contract negotiations knowing that OELs dead cap will be around $4.7 million when him and Pettersson are renewing their contracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillipBlunt Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 2 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said: Interesting, I haven’t read that take before. Why do you think they’ll start together? Seems like the consensus has been a second pair of Soucy-Hronek edit - agree it will probably take a bit of experimenting before we see consistent pairs I'd think that consensus is based off of Tocchet's line pairings from the previous season, where he would, whenever possible, pair a more offensive defenseman with a more defensive defenseman. Can't see them loading up that first pairing with offense at the detriment of defense. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 3 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said: Interesting, I haven’t read that take before. Why do you think they’ll start together? Seems like the consensus has been a second pair of Soucy-Hronek edit - agree it will probably take a bit of experimenting before we see consistent pairs Because we have not had a so called "top pairing RHD" in forever. It is an almost foregone conclusion we will see them have top PP minutes together as well as semi consistent shifts. There's to much hype to not see it happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Warhippy said: Because we have not had a so called "top pairing RHD" in forever. It is an almost foregone conclusion we will see them have top PP minutes together as well as semi consistent shifts. There's to much hype to not see it happen. Jim Benning inherited a 24 year old one. That damn Gillis. Hronek makes the team better as it means a 3rd pairing/depth guy won't have to play as many minutes. Edited August 9, 2023 by NewbieCanuckFan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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