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TRANSFER SAGA: Vancouver Canucks star Refuses contract extension, Says he wants to leave
Canucks sign key defenseman to massive eight-year extension
The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Filip Hronek to a maximum eight-year contract extension, shares the team. The deal will carry an annual cap hit of $7.25M, for a total value of $58M.
This deal will carry Hronek, 26, through his age-34 season in 2031-32. The deal featured signing bonuses in all but one year, costing the Canucks as much as $4M annually, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff.
Seravalli also shares that Hronek will carry a full no-move clause from 2025-28 — suggesting the first year of the deal will be clause-free — and a partial no-move clause from 2028-32.
The Canucks take care of a major piece of business with this extension, locking up the first defenseman capable of keeping up with Quinn Hughes. The pair spent nearly every second of their even-strength ice time together — and to good effect, with Hronek posting 48 points in 81 games, both career-highs. I
t was an incredibly successful start to Hronek’s career in Vancouver, building nicely on his pair of 38-point seasons to end his time with the Detroit Red Wings.
Hronek’s strong scoring slowed down substantially in the postseason — the first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs of his six-year career. He totaled just two points across 13 games, though he did his best to curb the low-scoring with a lofty 25 hits and 15 blocks, respectively ranking second and fourth among Vancouver’s blue-line.
The Canucks don’t seem bothered by Hronek’s meager postseason, now solidifying his spot next to Hughes for the foreseeable future.
With this extension, the Canucks are down to $16.83M in projected cap space with 10 pending free agents. Headlining the list is now forward Elias Lindholm, who Vancouver acquired in exchange for top prospect Hunter Brzustewicz, depth forward Joni Jurmo and two draft picks earlier this season.
Lindholm posted just 12 points in 26 games with the Canucks, never finding a perfect fit in the team’s lineup. He’s been rumored to be asking for a hefty extension for quite some time — something that may be difficult for Vancouver to stomach with less than $17M to spend.
Lindholm is joined atop Vancouver’s list of pending free agents by defenseman Nikita Zadorov — Vancouver’s other trade acquisition from the Flames this year. Zadorov came into his own with the Canucks, recording 14 points and 102 penalty minutes across 54 games with the team — matching his scoring pace from his 21-point season last year.
Zadorov has expressed a very strong interest in returning to Vancouver, though limited cap space could make that a challenge. Of course, Vancouver will be helped along by the ceiling Hronek’s deal sets, giving them a better gauge of what price they could hand out to Zadorov.
Still, the Canucks will likely focus their spending much more on solidifying depth pieces, with late-season breakouts Dakota Joshua and Arturs Silovs both up for new deals as well. Joshua became a core piece of Vancouver’s lineup late into the year, totaling eight points and a team-leading 75 hits in 13 postseason games.
His claim as Vancouver’s playoff workhorse is only challenged by Silovs, who recorded five wins and a .898 save percentage in 10 playoff appearances — filling in for Thatcher Demko following an untimely injury.
After weeks of speculation, the Canucks have now made their first big step of the offseason — placing their priority on rounding out their defense rather than their top-six forwards or goaltending duo. With a stake now planted, the Canucks can begin to turn their free agent attention towards the open market, where they’ve already been connected to star winger Jake Guentzel.
Guentzel posted 77 points across 67 games this season, adding nine points in 11 postseason games. He could be a fantastic replacement for Lindholm, should the Canucks get priced out of the latter’s negotiations.
