Filip Hronek has a pretty straightforward case as the Vancouver Canucks’ top player right now, and that naturally leads to the bigger question: where does he stand against the rest of the NHL’s right-shot defensemen?
That matters because Hronek isn’t just a defender. He’s a right-shot defender, and that makes him one of the sport’s most valuable and hardest-to-find pieces.
On most defense-only lists, he lands safely inside the top 32. The Athletic also had him hovering right around the edge of its top-100 players overall.
So the conversation isn’t whether Hronek is good. It’s how high he sits in a crowded RD field.
There are a handful of righties who are plainly ahead of him. Cale Makar remains the standard-bearer by a wide margin.
Moritz Seider has become one of the league’s best two-way defenders. Adam Fox is still operating in the upper tier after a 53-point season in 55 games.
Evan Bouchard’s reputation tends to be defined by what he lacks, but his offensive impact is massive and his overall game keeps improving. Charlie McAvoy has lived in that next level for years and brings his best when the games matter most.
Brock Faber arrived looking like a finished top-pairing defender and then added a bigger offensive punch, posting 51 points last season. Erik Karlsson is older, sure, but 66 points in 75 games says he still belongs near the top.
Then comes the trickier group, the one where Hronek starts to look very much like part of the same conversation. Seth Jones has revived his game in Florida, and the fact that he played top-pairing minutes on a Stanley Cup winner within the past two years probably gives him the edge.
Noah Dobson is still only 26 and has hit 70 points in a season, though his production has swung from that peak to 39 and 47-point years, which makes him hard to pin down. Colton Parayko still carries enough weight to make Team Canada, but his impact and counting stats are trending down.
John Carlson remains quietly excellent and can still function as a top-pairing defender on any night. Darren Raddysh forced his way into the discussion with 70 points in 73 games and a massive UFA deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but one huge season isn’t enough to push him past a more established name like Hronek.
There are also several right-shot defenders who probably shouldn’t be ranked ahead of him. Brett Pesce hasn’t looked the same away from Jaccob Slavin.
Brandt Clarke’s new RFA extension with the Kings may have boosted his paycheck, but not his standing above Hronek just yet. Rasmus Andersson has long been a player who gets more credit for physical play than he probably should, and he didn’t impress much after being traded to Vegas before landing a major extension anyway.
Ryan Pulock has been a steady top-pairing defensive presence for years, but that kind of game can fade quickly, and he seems to have slipped some. Drew Doughty still matters enough to remain on Team Canada’s radar, but at this point that’s more of an honor than a sign he’s still in his prime.
Put it all together, and Hronek lands in a very strong spot. The most optimistic read puts him no higher than seventh or eighth among right-shot defensemen.
A more realistic placement has him sitting at the back end of the top 10, maybe just outside it. Even the harsher view still leaves him comfortably inside the top 15.
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