Canucks sign Hronek to eight-year extension with $7.25 million AAV
The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Filip Hronek to an eight-year contract with a $7.25 million cap hit.
#Canucks have signed D Filip Hronek to an eight-year, $58 million extension: 8 years x $7.25 million.
Big piece of business done.@DailyFaceoff
Hronek was in the final year of a three-year contract with a $4.4 million cap hit that he originally signed with the Detroit Red Wings, and was set to be a restricted free agent come July 1st. With this new extension, the Canucks lock him up until he’s 34 years old at 8.24% of the 2024-25 salary cap.
Hronek’s contract comes with a full-no move clause from 2025 to 2028, and then a 15-team no trade clause from 2028 to 2032. He also receives signing bonuses in all seasons except 2026-27, with his salary ranging from as high as $6.75 million in 2026-27 and as low as $3.7 million in 2028-29, 2030-31 and 2031-32.
With his new deal, Hronek will be tied for the 30th-highest cap hit among defensemen next season. He shares a cap hit with Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews, who will be starting his seven-year contract this upcoming season.
Hronek is coming off his most successful season in the NHL in 2023-24, where he had 5 goals and 43 assists for 48 points in 81 games with the Canucks, largely alongside the potential Norris-winning defenseman Quinn Hughes. It was a career-high in assists and points, passing his 33-assist mark set in 2021-22 and his 39-point mark set in 2022-23.
However, Hronek did disappoint a bit more in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, only getting 1 goal and 1 assist for 2 points in 13 games, as the Canucks went on to get eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the second round.
Hronek is a former second-round pick by the Red Wings in the 2016 NHL Draft, making his debut with the team in 2018 and went on to spend parts of five seasons in Detroit before he was surprisingly dealt to the Canucks at the 2023 trade deadline. He’s since spent a bit over a year with the team, and is now set to spend another eight.
While the Canucks made a couple of extensions to players during the season, most notably to Elias Pettersson, Hronek marks the first notable move that they’ve made in their offseason. They currently have nine unrestricted free agents and one RFA left to sign on their current roster, including Elias Lindholm, Tyler Myers and Nikita Zadorov, and have just under $17 million in salary cap space after the Hronek extension.