Dealing with adversity is nothing new for the Vancouver Canucks in 2024-25, albeit the amount and variety of it has proved to be almost unbelievable at times. A cancer diagnosis, bereavement, a first-of-its-kind hockey injury and an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons, are just some of the situations the teams has already had to contend with this season.
As such, it was probably no surprise when Filip Hronek suffered an injury against the Pittsburgh Penguins last Wednesday night. And just to make sure the beginning of this season continued to sound like something written in Holloywood for a hockey movie, said injury occurred with less than one minute remaining in the game.
In any event, losing one half of one of the very best blue line pairings in the NHL is undoubtedly a big blow. Hronek had a career year last season which helped secure him a lucrative multi-year deal, and he was off to another strong start this campaign.
Likely not a short-term absence
One thing which must be frustrating for a lot of people, is the lack of clarity surrounding the nature of Hronek's injury and how long he will be out for. All we knew courtesy of Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, was that the defenceman could be out for a while, with it seeming to be a shoulder issue.
Well, now we have been provided with some more information, although it actually leads to more questions than answers. Giving due credit to Noah Strang of the Daily Hive, the latest news came from Friedman again, and TSN's Darren Dreger.
Beginning with Friedman, he provided his latest update during an appearance on Donnie and Dahli on Monday. He said:
"Someone waned me to be careful on the weekend, because they said to me anybody that's jumping to conclusions on this doesn’t know what they’re talking about, because the Canucks and Hronek are still trying to determine the exact timeline."
Despite this, Friedman did stick to his previous comments that he doesn't believe the absence will be short-term, and he's not someone who shares something just for the sake of it. Further, just the fact Hronek and the team are arranging for him to meet several Doctors to get different opinions, seems to back up how serious the injury is.
TSN insider hedging his bets
The second update from Dreger, came during a Monday segment on Sekeres and Price. He said:
"He’s either scheduled, or he’s going to see a specialist in the very near future. That will determine what the prognosis is from an immediate perspective and longer-term. ... Until he sees that specialist or specialists, then they're not going to know for sure as to what the best remedy is (or) the best approach."
Dreger did add that as far as he's concerned, as this stage Hronek is still week-to-week. However, that sounds more like the TSN insider playing it safe until more is known.
What we will say at this stage, is that the Canucks are almost in no-man's land with Hronek. Until they know more, they cannot make a decision on whether he needs to go on long-term injured reserve, which would in turn help the quest to find a quality and available blue-liner on the trade market. (Although we would argue those are in short supply.)
In the meantime all the Canucks can do is muddle through, although to be fair they've managed this approach just fine considering they've also been without the likes of Thatcher Demko and J.T. Miller. In fact they've managed to win the two games without Hronek in the lineup, although you do have to be concerned that the team is close to breaking point with so many quality players absent at the moment.