Red Wings ship Hronek to Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks have found their right-handed defenseman.

The Detroit Red Wings traded blue-liner Filip Hronek and a 2023 fourth-round pick to the Canucks for a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick, the teams announced Wednesday.

The conditional 2023 first-round pick in the deal originally belonged to the New York Islanders but was sent to Vancouver in the Bo Horvat trade. It's top-12 protected, so the Red Wings will receive the Islanders' unprotected 2024 first-round pick if it falls in the top 12 this year.

Hronek is in the midst of a breakout year, recording 38 points in 60 games while averaging 21:32 per contest. The 25-year-old is under contract through 2023-24 with a $4.4-million cap hit and will be a restricted free agent upon the completion of the deal.

His underlying numbers this season have been outstanding at five-on-five, on the power play, and on the penalty kill.

The Canucks have long been searching for a top-four-caliber right-handed defenseman. Hronek immediately jumps to the top of Vancouver's depth chart at that position, and it's possible he'll play on the top pair with franchise tentpole Quinn Hughes. The team's other right-shooting defensemen are Ethan Bear, Tyler Myers, Kyle Burroughs, and Noah Juulsen.

Vancouver has a better chance of winning the draft lottery (7%) than making the playoffs (0%) this year, according to MoneyPuck, but this trade fills a key need moving forward. Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford has been on record saying he wants to retool the team rather than undertake a full-on rebuild.

The Red Wings' playoff hopes for this season (2.8%) took a hit following a recent two-game sweep at the hands of the Ottawa Senators.

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