Red Wings: Filip Hronek will improve as a top pairing defender in 2020-21

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek will look to become the steady number one through the rebuild.

The Detroit Red Wings have some fantastic defensemen prospects on their way to the National Hockey League (NHL), meaning there is quite the opportunity for Filip Hronek, now. He is the current number one defenseman on the Red Wings roster, but he can improve his performance.

What this means is that Hronek has the number one defender for the organization, but he needs to improve his play to be playing to that caliber. The ideal scenario would mean that Hronek stays with the Red Wings and becomes the veteran defender who gets to foster the development of prospects.

Red Wings prospect Moritz Seider is another defender with first pairing upside, and Hronek could easily see him as a defense partner in the coming years. Hronek having some experience would only better the situation, and 2020-21 is the opportunity for Hronek to really get things going.

What should the Detroit Red Wings consider an improvement for Filip Hronek?

In 2019-20, the season was cut short, but Hronek played in 65 total games, where he scored nine goals and added 22 assists for 31 total points.

From 2018-19 to 2019-20, Hronek saw his aver ice time increase by almost four minutes, showing his increase in opportunities to cement his role.

Hronek settled into the Red Wings top pairing for the majority of the 2019-20 season, where he somehow managed a Corsi For (CF%) of 46.9, which was 1.1% above the team’s CF threshold. This means that when Hronek was on the ice, there were more shots taken then against the Red Wings.

This is not at all surprising given that Hronek is more of an offensive defenseman, and he should try to improve his statistics during the 2020-21 season. If the Red Wings are going to try and have one of their defensemen become the veteran mentor, Hronek is the guy.

If he can get back on the ice and put up a 10+ goal season with 30-40 assists, he could really establish himself as a talented defenseman across the league. It may be asking a lot, but he could then be compared to someone like Tyson Barrie, Ryan Suter, or Zach Werenski.

In the future, the Detroit Red Wings could use Filip Hronek as a mentor for prospects.

Hronek being only twenty-two years old, can get through his third season, possibly even the fourth before he takes on the “veteran” role in the defense pairings. If Hronek can help with the development of Red Wings’ defense prospects, it would greatly benefit the rebuild.

It may not be the most common thing that a twenty-two-year-old is considered a veteran leader, but he will have experience under his belt. He is “that guy” for the defense core right now, and he can learn and use this to help with prospect development in the future.

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In the 2020-21 season, Filip Hronek should look to increase his performance, show improvement, and solidify his role as the number one for the Detroit Red Wings without question.

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