Detroit Red Wings trade D Filip Hronek, acquire first- and second-round 2023 picks
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Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman showed his eye remains very much on the future of the rebuild and traded veteran defenseman Filip Hronek.
The return from the Vancouver Canucks yielded a conditional first-round pick (it becomes an unprotected 2024 first-round pick if it is in the top 12 this year) and a second-round pick in the 2023 draft. The Canucks also got a 2023 fourth-round pick.
Hronek, 25, had nine goals and 38 points in 60 games this season. Two years ago, when the Wings were struggling to field a competitive lineup, Hronek was a workhorse who thrived being relied on as a shut-down defender and playing in all key situations. That changed last season with the arrival of Moritz Seider, and Hronek had a down year in 2021-22, posting 38 points and a minus-29 rating in 78 games.
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The trade was part of a busy day for Yzerman, who also got Dylan Larkin signed to an eight-year, $69.6 million contract extension.
More:Detroit Red Wings sign captain Dylan Larkin to eight-year, $69.6 million contract
The Wings have four defensemen under contract at least through next season: Seider, Ben Chiarot, Olli Määttä and Jake Walman. Gustav Lindstrom is a pending restricted free agent.
The deal gives the Wings their own and the New York Islanders’ first-round picks in 2023 (there’s a thread to be pulled there: The Canucks got the Islanders’ pick as part of the Bo Horvat deal, who was someone the Wings targeted as a possible acquisition.)
The deal also gives the Wings three picks in the second round: Their own, the St. Louis Blues’ pick from last year’s trade-deadline deal, and the Canucks.
Yzerman may use his plethora of picks to move up in the draft, like he did with the first-round pick he got from the Washington Capitals in the Anthony Mantha trade (to draft goaltender Sebastian Cossa), or he could use them to swing a deal for a player.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings trade D Filip Hronek, acquire first- and second-round 2023 picks