VANCOUVER — What does an eight-year extension to stay in Vancouver mean to Filip Hronek?
“I guess I’m going to have to do more media for eight more years,” the famously-interview-averse Czech said during a Zoom call Wednesday morning. “It’s going to be fun. I like (the market). It’s nice when people like it and they enjoy the hockey and they’re supporting us. So it’s a lot of fun.”
You can put up with a lot for $58 million.
The deal, of course, means a lot more to Hronek than eight years — nearly 3,000 days — of discomforting media obligations. It means lifetime financial security, the chance to build a home and relationships, and the opportunity to win a Stanley Cup with a Vancouver Canucks team whose breakthrough this season mirrored Hronek’s breakthrough as a top-pairing National Hockey League defenceman.
Still, $7.25 million annually is a lot to pay for a No. 2 blue-liner. But then, at age 26, maybe Hronek can still be something more.
The Canucks already have a No. 1 defenceman: Quinn Hughes, inarguably one of the best players on the planet and the Norris Trophy favourite when the NHL hands out the rest of its awards next week in Las Vegas.
Hronek partnered Hughes this season, providing stability and more puck-touches to the Canucks captain who broke his own franchise records and led all NHL defencemen with 75 assists and 92 points. Hronek finished with a career-high 48 points, 23:26 of average ice time and a five-on-five goal differential of plus-30.
Hughes, 24, is halfway through his own contract, a six-year deal that costs the Canucks a bargain $7.85 million per season, and everything Vancouver management does over the next three seasons is with an eye on making sure their superstar will want to stay in Vancouver beyond 2027 and not go to the New Jersey Devils to join younger brothers Jack and Luke.
Don’t ignore this subplot when assessing the Hronek extension, nor the inflationary period to come in the NHL as the salary cap becomes untethered from the economic consequences of the pandemic.
But for 58 mil, Hronek needs to be more than a sparkling complementary piece.
He’s not going to eclipse Hughes as the Canucks’ No. 1, but he’s capable of becoming a 1B and driving his own pairing while further elevating his game and offensive totals.
This is what general manager Patrik Allvin is paying for in this contract.
“We felt comfortable with age, where Filip is and where we believe his game could go,” Allvin said Tuesday. “Also, finding the right-shot defenceman … at that age and his quality, made us feel comfortable going to eight years.
“I believe that he has another level to get to, and I believe that he’s capable of getting to another level and finding his consistency. I think he’s a very competitive player, skates well. I think he moves the puck well, and he is a guy that fits well in our in our dressing room here.”
On finding another level, Hronek said: “It’s why you play the game — to have challenges in front of you and trying to get better and better every season. It’s nice. I feel the trust from the management and from Jim and Patrik and from the coaches as well. It motivates me a lot for sure.”
Allvin and Canucks president Jim Rutherford acquired Hronek from Detroit ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, paying first- and second-round draft picks to acquire a right-side defender that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman had called a “core” player.
Awkward media moments aside, Hronek blended perfectly in the Canucks dressing room and certainly fit with Hughes. He spent 79 per cent of his five-on-five minutes last season alongside the Vancouver captain.
“It’s pretty easy to play with him,” Hronek said Wednesday. “I would say we have a good chemistry on and off the ice, so it helps, too. I’m really excited to keep it going.”
On his broader relationship with Hughes, he said: “Everything was natural. We see a lot of things the same way, and we are able to talk about a lot of stuff even off the ice and on the ice as well. So it’s pretty easy, actually. It’s a really good relationship.”
Hronek immediately impressed blue-line coach Adam Foote — who had told Sportsnet last fall that it was counter-intuitive to play the team’s most mobile, skilled, puck-moving defencemen together — and became a favourite of head coach Rick Tocchet.
“I mean, the biggest thing with them is you can talk with them about everything,” Hronek said of a coaching staff that also includes former defenceman Sergei Gonchar. “And they like to talk with you about the games and they like to talk with you (about) off the ice stuff, too. So it helps you and it makes you feel comfortable. That always helps … make it easier for you.”
As expensive as Hronek was to re-sign, he was likely headed for an even bigger payday as an unrestricted free agent a year from now. After missing the playoffs in all five of his seasons with Detroit, the 2016 second-round draft pick wanted to stay in Vancouver badly.
“I’m really happy about it,” he said. “I’m happy I’m signed and I know where I’m going to be. I mean, I think we played really good, and we have a good core. The players are good, and it was a lot of fun. It was a fun year for me and I really enjoyed it. There was not much to think about to stay.”
Even the Zoom call went well.