Coconuts

During what some argue will be the Canucks best window no less. Which is basically before having to re-up Demko and Hughes, and while Miller is still playing at a high level. And maybe, the Canucks being competitive this season may help a bit, but ultimately most guys want to get paid too. The Stanley Cup is the hardest championship to win and taking less likely doesn't affect the odds much for most players. More than likely both sides will find middle ground, I'm not expecting Hronek to squeeze the Canucks for everything he can but I'm not expecting him to take a whole lot less than market value either. And certainly, he'd be hard pressed to find a better running mate than Hughes.

Makar and Toews would probably be the closest, yeah, if only because Makar and Hughes are each other's most direct comparable. Toews is a bit older, having just turned 30, and he's the superior player between him and Hronek, but his 45 points in 75 games isn't far off from Hronek's 46 in 74. The caveat is that Toews undoubtedly took a discount to stay in Colorado. He took a 7x7.25M deal when he easily could have gotten 8M+ via UFA. But it's a bit easier to get guys to take less when they've won a cup with you and will have legitimate opportunities to chase more if they stay. Lot of top teams around the league play their best D together, Hronek's the best RD option we currently have and acquiring a better one wouldn't be easy, or cheap. Paying him to play with Hughes is a good problem to have, if it's viewed as a problem at all.

Comparables are also a tricky thing because contract extensions are largely tied to current cap realities. Age, RFA status, UFA status, the buying of UFA yars, there's a lot that goes into hammering out an extension. It's why the argument that Hronek shouldn't make more than Hughes falls on deaf ears with me, the cap realities are different now than they were when we signed Hughes back in 2021. How do you argue that a deal signed in October, 2021 is the gold standard in 2024? It doesn't work. Soft or hard internal caps don't really operate the way folks would like them to most of the time. There was a lot of arguing that Pettersson shouldn't make more than Miller, it never made any sense given factors such as age, production, a rising cap, ect. Top end players always get the lions share of cap increases, it's the way she goes. 1D see larger boosts, so do 2-3D. Things shift, all folks have to do is go back and look what the top D were making back in the 2000's and 2010's. One has to factor for the cap having grown significantly but still.

I dunno, I suppose that depends on what you consider to be elite D money, which is something that's pretty subjective. I reckon he'll get somewhere between 7-8M, now that we've exited the dead-cap Covid era I don't really think that'll be elite D money going forward. Dahlin just got 11M, Hughes and Makar will likely get 12M+ when they're due, Dobson will probably get 10M+ sooner than later. I think it'll be standard for #1D to get closer to 10-12M+ and 2-3 guys to get a bit less going forward now that the cap is rising again, which is exactly where Hronek will fall.

Yeah, I'm not as hung up on Hronek driving his own pairing if the goal is to largely keep him with Hughes. Every team in the league would like 40+ point players on each top four pairing, most teams don't have it though. Let's take a look at some of the current highest scoring teams. The Avs don't, the highest point producing after Makar and Toews is Walker with 27 points. Then it's Manson with 23. The Rangers don't, the only D with 30 points or more not named Fox is Gustaffson. Carolina's close, Skjei has 42 and Burns has 39. Toronto has Reilly with 51 and no other D with 30 or more. Tampa has Hedman with 71 and not a single other D with 30 or more. Maybe they would if Sergachev was healthy all season but he hasn't been. Dallas has two 40+ D but they both play on the same pairing. Nobody else with 30+. Same goes for Edmonton, both Ekholm and Bouchard play together. Boston has one guy with 40+ points. Florida doesn't have a single D with 40+ points.

Certainly, they just aren't the only facts, and whether they're the most important facts is anyone's guess. That's something the Canucks would be dumb not to argue, it's just not the only argument they'll make and there'll undoubtedly be counterarguments.

He produced quite respectably his last season in Detroit, a team that's been trying get back to being competitive for a while, and one that hasn't featured Hughes. Put up 38 in 78 back in 21-22 and then greatly improved his pacing the following season, putting up 38 in 60 prior to being traded to the Canucks. The Canucks will argue he benefits from playing alongside Hughes and would be dumb not to argue that, but he was producing before he got here and that'll be part of the counterargument. Some of the counterargument will be that Hughes has benefitted from having a partner of Hronek's caliber as well. There'd be plenty of takers for his current RFA price, perhaps fewer for what he'll cost on an extension though, if only because it doesn't matter if teams are willing to pay Hronek if he doesn't want to be somewhere. The list of places Hronek would be willing to extend also limits the potential returns the Canucks could get. Hronek isn't negotiating from a position of weakness, his representation has quite a bit of sway regarding what he'll ultimately get or where he'd ultimately end up. The Canucks could absolutely say they aren't willing to give him what he wants, but if they legitimately want to chase cups sooner than later I'm not sure younger D (as part of a return package) is going to step in and replicate what Hronek's done this season sooner than later. Part of it depends on how the Canucks view their window, and how much they want to go for it sooner than later. I suppose to answer to this depends on whether the Canucks actually view that as being problematic or not. Having a guy who can help get the best out of your franchise D isn't necessarily a bad thing. Makar's had that in Toews, although Toews is undoubtedly superior to Hronek despite the age difference. The other caveat is that as the cap rises, so will what teams pay for 2-3D. That's a tough question that depends on something we can only largely speculate on, management's short, medium, and longer-term plans. The reality is that every team wants to manage their cap as effectively as possible, but the reality is that even top teams sometimes have to pay full value for upper tier players. And again, is Hronek not taking another step forward from where he's currently at a problem if he can continue to help Hughes reach the heights he has season in and season out? Perhaps, but then there's discussion to be had around realistic timelines and what management wants to achieve in terms of short, medium, and longer-term goals. Not every young D emerges like a Faber, Hughes, or countless other top young D we've seen over the past several seasons. That's not necessarily a problem if you're okay with that in the short-term, but it could be if you want a Hronek caliber player on the roster sooner than later. Does a potential trade that may or may not work out the way we want it to outweigh the benefit of being able to sign the devil you know? Numbers fluctuate as the cap does, 7.5M this season or next likely won't be what it is in 3-4 seasons. I think folks are getting too hung up on what's probably a million dollars or less per season. And I get wanting to squeeze every last dollar out of negotiations and wanting team friendly deals, but every team features players with contracts that aren't sweetheart deals. Most teams around the league don't have players in the wings to step up and take over for #1's either, that almost always has to be done by committee.

Sure, but the Hronek scenario is a bit different than that of a younger RFA, he has one RFA season remaining and that'll likely up the cost of extending him imo. It likely won't happen, but he could ultimately just take his qualifying offer and walk if he's not happy with what's offered. That'd likely result in a trade, which Hronek would have a degree of control over. Lot of teams aren't going to give up a haul for a player they aren't going to be able to retain.

The tricky thing is figuring out how to do so when the years the Canucks would be paying Hronek for going forward will almost entirely be UFA years

Impressive company

Absolutely absurd, it'll be surprising if he doesn't break 100

As @Johngould21 said, that's with him having missed significant time during his prime as well

For real, he's arguably a top 5 player all-time

Ngl, I hope this Winnipeg/LA game goes to OT

Detroit with an empty netter and that'll do it, no late game heroics from Tampa Last couple eastern spots are still wide open, all of Washington, Philly, Detroit, and New York are in the mix Tampa's probably safe, but they're running out of runway to steal a divisional spot from Toronto West is less open, with eight games remaining St. Louis will be hard pressed to catch LA or Vegas, particularly if LA wins their game in hand tonight

Detroit with a late go ahead goal, Isles win in OT Puts the Isles four points back of Philly with two games in hand

Philly forces OT in a big four point game Isles ain't out of it yet, but they really need the second point Philly's getting at least a point means Detroit can't leapfrog them with a win tonight though

It's not meaningless though, this is Colorado's game in hand on Dallas (who leads the central division), and they're three points back

Oilers fans breathing a sigh of relief

The Avs being unable to crack Columbus is surprising

I'm talking out of my ass, but I'm guessing that it's probably a case by case thing regarding ownership and the NHL brass It's not very often there's a legit chance that a team moves

https://www.nhl.com/video/topic/player-safety/hartman-suspended-three-games-6350098419112

Hmm, as far as D go I'd honestly put Josi ahead of both Hughes and Makar when it comes to Hart talk The Canucks probs make the playoffs this season with Hughes putting up lesser, but still impressive production, whereas Nashville almost certainly isn't in the mix without Josi having the season he has Preds have decent, if not unspectacular depth but lack the star power of the Canucks, Saros is a very good tender but Demko's been better, Josi's put up 76 in 74 games while playing roughly the same number of minutes as Hughes, whereas the next highest point total for a Nashville defender is McDonagh's 28 points