Canucks: Filip Hronek’s impact, by the numbers

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There is little doubt the Vancouver Canucks are going to have a hard time replacing Filip Hronek.

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Since arriving in a trade almost two years ago, he has proven to be the perfect defence partner for Quinn Hughes.

He’s a solid puck-mover, especially adept at hitting Hughes’ stick in the tape every time. Such fine delivery means that Hughes doesn’t have to focus on collecting the puck, rather he can keep his eyes on his environment, ready to attack any space he can find.

Losing Hronek to a shoulder injury will be very difficult for the Canucks to absorb.

Hughes has played well with just about everyone he’s been paired with, but the fit with Hronek stands out. Let’s look at some of the numbers.

+13

When Hronek has spent time away from Hughes, he has struggled. And Hughes’ shot-attempts-for percentage when he’s away from Hronek actually goes up.

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But there’s something in how Hronek’s shot-attempts-for percentage goes up 13 percentage points when he’s paired with Hughes. This is true of just about every defenceman Hughes has played with since the beginning of last season, but given the volume of minutes that Hughes and Hronek have been together for, there’s a durability in their puck control.

Tyler Myers, for instance, sees a similar surge in his numbers when he is paired with Hughes — and he would seem to be the leading candidate to replace Hronek in the interim — but it’s hard to see that number sustaining itself as the minutes together go up.

57.1

Hronek’s shot-attempts-for percentage this season is an astounding 57.1 per cent. That’s far and away the best of his career.

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The Canucks would be nowhere this season without Kevin Lankinen — he’s bailed them out more than once. But where would the Canucks be without Hughes and Hronek?

The two have been stellar, playing huge minutes and keeping the game at the offensive end of the ice.

They’re also +14 in goals for vs. against at five-on-five, an outstanding number. Goals are, in the end, the ultimate metric, and this duo is as good as it gets in the NHL.

59.9

As a duo, Hughes and Hronek have the sixth-best five-on-five shot-attempts percentage this season, amongst NHL defensive pairs that have played at least 100 minutes together.

And when you factor in the quality of shots, they’re even better — they have posted the third-best high-danger chances-for percentage in the NHL, at 65 per cent.

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And they’re just not giving away any quality chances in their own end this season.

87

A deeply underrated part of Hronek’s game is his impact on the penalty kill.

Of the Canucks’ regular penalty-killing defencemen, the Canucks’ shot-attempts against rate while shorthanded is at its lowest when he’s on the ice.

Hughes seems like to inherit some of Hronek’s minutes here and he’ll do a great job keeping the shots against down, but the Canucks have kept him off the power play to keep from burning him out too much, keeping him fresh for long stints on the power play.

Shoulder worries — The Canucks had the day off on Thursday, as they travelled from Pittsburgh to Buffalo. As such the Canucks did not have a media availability, but a team spokesperson said that head coach Rick Tocchet would provide an update on Friday. The Canucks face the Sabres in Buffalo on Friday. … Concern seems to be centring on Hronek having a separated shoulder and he may be out for weeks.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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