Detroit Prospect Filip Hronek Gets Kick at the Can

With the injury bug biting the Detroit Red Wings and shelving veteran Mike Green for approximately three to five weeks, the club has decided to let fellow blue liner Filip Hronek prove he was what it takes to become a regular in the NHL.

The 21-year-old Hronek was promoted from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL as Green’s replacement in mid-December as an early Christmas present. He’ll now be determined to perform at his best during his stint in the Motor City. He’ll need to be bring his A game though since the Red Wings have several good young rearguard prospects who are ready, willing and able to show the brass what they can do if given the chance.

But while Hronek was naturally thrilled to be called up to Detroit, veteran defender Brian Lashoff was sent the other way as he landed in Grand Rapids. According to head coach Jeff Blashill, the club wants to take a good look at Hronek since his style is more similar to Green’s. The Red Wings’ blue line has been a bit of a revolving door lately as Danny DeKeyser is also injured and Trevor Daley recently made his way back after a five-game stint on the sidelines due to injury.

There’s no doubt the absence of Green will be a big blow since he’s arguably been the team’s best defenseman this season with three goals and 16 points in 23 contests along with a team-high plus-10 rating. This is the second time he’s been out of the lineup this year as he missed the first three weeks of the campaign with a virus.

Hronek started the season with Detroit and played six games before being sent down to the AHL in the last week of October. He notched a goal and two assists in the big league with a minus-two rating. His ice time ranged from a low of 15:23 to a high of 22:44 a game. Hronek was impressive in Grand Rapids when he went down with five goals and 18 points in 20 outings and a rating of plus-six. He was also quite impressive on the squad’s penalty-killing unit and two of his goals were overtime game-winners.

Blashill felt Hronek had progressed well in the minors and was ready for another shot at the NHL. However, he’s definitely found there’s a big difference between the AHL and NHL as he went without a point in his first four games back with Detroit. He was playing well defensively though with an even rating and Blashill increased his ice time with each passing game.

Hronek isn’t an imposing figure on the blue line by any means as he’s six-feet tall and reportedly weighs just 163 lbs, making him a bit of a string bean. However, he’s a fine competitor with a good head on his shoulders when it comes to reading the game. He knows his limitations and plays within them.

Although Hronek has better than average offensive skills for a blue liner  he concerns himself more with the defensive side of the game. He played in his homeland of the Czech Republic before being drafted with the 53^rd overall pick by Detroit in 2016. He landed in North America with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League in 2016/17 and excelled by posting 14 goals and 61 points in 59 games and being named to the league’s Third All-Star Team. He also played 10 games with Grand Rapids that season and chipped in with a goal and assist.

Hronek stared the next campaign back in Grand Rapids and notched 11 goals and 39 points in 67 outings and added an assist in five playoff contests. He was a plus-24 during the season, but tired out in the postseason and was a minus-five. Overall it was a successful year though and a quality learning experience as he was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team and tied a franchise record for most points by a rookie rearguard.

The youngster has displayed plenty of agility, puck-handling skills and speed so far as a pro, but Detroit have several other blue line prospects who possess the same attributes including 22-year-old Joe Hicketts from Kamloops, British Columbia. Hicketts was signed as a free agent in 2014, but is quite undersized for a defenseman at just 5-feet-8-inches tall.

Hicketts is quite mobile though and rarely gets caught out of position. He doesn’t possess the same scoring touch as Hronek, but did post 173 points in 224 games in Canadian junior hockey and has added 46 points in 140 AHL contests with Grand Rapids. Hicketts registered three points in five games with Detroit last season and was a plus-five. Like Hronek, he also started this season with Detroit, but didn’t register a point in eight appearances and went minus-six.

At the moment Hronek is being giving something of an NHL audition, but if he falters the Red Wings won’t hesitate to recall Hicketts. Sooner or later though the pair of them will be patrolling the blue line in Detroit. There’s not really any urgency to rush either one of them at the moment as the Red Wings are in a bit of a rebuild and a youth movement kick.

Of course, this doesn’t mean Hronek can simply show up in Detroit as a replacement for Green without giving it his maximum effort game in and game out. He now has the perfect opportunity to show the club that his numbers in junior hockey and the AHL weren’t some type of optical illusion. It’s not a case of now or never, but he should take the bull by the horns while he can.