Filip Hronek and the Vancouver Canucks are heading into a season where one player is being asked to carry a lot more than his share.
Hronek averaged 25 minutes a night last season, and that workload only grew heavier once Quinn Hughes got traded to Minnesota.
Vancouver isn't just leaning on him anymore. It's asking him to become a genuine pillar of the defence, not just a strong complementary piece.
Hronek posted 49 points in 82 games last season on a $7,250,000 cap hit, real production for the load he's now being handed.
Here's the warning sign. There's only so much one defenceman can do, and simply piling on more minutes probably doesn't solve anything long-term.
The smarter path is using his skating and puck-moving ability to help build a different defensive structure, not just riding him harder every night.
Vancouver already knows what its pieces do well. Boeser shoots, Pettersson creates, DeBrusk attacks the dangerous areas, and Hronek covers enormous amounts of ice.
Why patience for Hronek is harder to sell than for anyone else
The real challenge isn't identifying those strengths. It's building a team that lets them matter more consistently across 82 games.
That's a genuinely alarming ask for one player, but it's also a real opportunity for Hronek to prove exactly what he's worth to this franchise.
Rebuilds are supposed to come with tolerance for mistakes and growing pains, that's the whole point of the exercise.
Is Vancouver's fan base actually going to extend Hronek that same patience if the results look shaky early? That's a much tougher question.
A workload this heavy invites bad nights, and bad nights invite exactly the kind of criticism a rebuilding team can't afford to distract itself with.
How Hronek handles this season could end up deciding whether he's part of Vancouver's long-term core or the next name on the trade block.
Will Canucks fans stay patient with Filip Hronek through a heavier workload?
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